The consequences of the corona pandemic are causing German retail to stagger. In many areas, sales are well below expectations. The agreed partial lockdown is expected to exacerbate the problems. On the other hand, online trading is booming.
Sales in the German retail sector fell more sharply than expected in September. As the Federal Statistical Office announced on the basis of preliminary data, sales after deducting inflation fell by 2.2 percent compared to the previous month. Economists had only forecast a decline of 0.8 percent. The monthly increase of 1.8 percent was confirmed for August. For the year as a whole, sales rose by 6.5 percent in September, adjusted for price.
Some parts of the industry were caught off guard by the Corona crisis: The trade in textiles, clothing, shoes and leather goods is still 7.3 percent below the level of the same month last year in real terms. The Internet and mail order business, on the other hand, is booming: it grew by a whopping 21.2 percent.
However, in view of the partial lockdown, the German trade association sees new problems for retailers. They could keep their shops open, but because of the contact restrictions, significantly fewer people should come to the city centers. Rental costs continued to run while sales were then missing.
Compared to February 2020, the month before the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany, real sales in September were 2.8 higher. The retail trade accounts for around 25 percent of private consumption in Germany. The retail data are very often subject to major revisions.
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