The festive shopping season for 2023 peaks tomorrow, the last Sunday of the year, with optional opening hours from 11am to 6pm for small shops and until 8pm for department stores and chain stores.

Retailers expect that the December turnover will exceed last year’s 3.83 billion and will move above 4 billion euros, while in terms of consumer preferences, it seems that clothing – footwear, toys and cosmetics, electronics and small electrical appliances.

In 2023, it is estimated that the Greek retail trade will end with a single-digit increase, which to a large extent is inflationary and does not imply a corresponding increase in real consumption. ELSTAT’s figures show that the biggest companies in the sector are winning over the smaller ones, with the inflationary crisis actually widening the gap between them, given that the “big ones” can exercise a more extensive bidding policy.

In particular, the turnover of very small commercial enterprises per quarter increases to the levels of 2%, while that of medium-sized enterprises over 4%. Nevertheless, New Year’s sales, on the one hand, complete the purchasing movement of the festive market, and on the other hand, the annual turnover, which according to official data, closes comparatively and overall with a positive sign for the retail trade.

In the meantime, immediately after the holidays, i.e. from January 8, the winter sales for 2024 start and will last until the end of February.

It is recalled that based on the bill of the Ministry of Development, the winter sales begin on the second Monday of every January and end at the end of February, while the stores are expected to reopen on the first Sunday of the winter sales, i.e. on January 14, 2024.