While retailers are on the starting blocks with the approach of the winter sales which open on January 8, the trend is slightly optimistic. The slowdown in inflation and the weather could indeed push the French to take out their wallets, despite uncertainties linked to the political context and competition from Internet platforms.
Weather that makes you want to buy a down jacket or even a nice sofa to watch a nice fire in peace, but also falling inflation which could also join in the fun. In the fashion sector, prices increased by only 1% in 2024, compared to 3% in 2023 and 6% in 2022, according to the Economic Observatory of the French Fashion Institute (IFM). “Today, the worst is behind us,” said Yohann Petiot, director of the Alliance du Commerce, which represents department store brands.
Blurred prices
Black Friday, second hand, private sales, ultra fast fashion sites… Consumers are today offered low-cost fashion items all year round, underlines Gildas Minvielle, director of the IFM Economic Observatory . “We buy when we need to and we no longer give in to the impulse purchase, which almost seems to be a notion of the past. […] That means we’re not going to do anything crazy during the sales,” explains the economist. Especially since the winter sales, which will end on February 4, could suffer from the political context. The absence of a 2025 budget fuels household uncertainty, but clothing is an item of expenditure that “is not the priority for consumers when there is an unfavorable, unstable economic environment with very little visibility” , underlines the expert.
If the sales are far from having become obsolete for Yann Rivoallan, president of the women's ready-to-wear federation who affirms that there is still a “strong expectation” from retailers, he would like the launch date to be postponed “rather at the end of winter”.
Our file on purchasing power
Judging this date too close to Christmas, “financially burdensome for households”, and too premature to destock, the CDF also called on Tuesday in a press release to “postpone the start of the winter sales to the last Wednesday in January” to “preserve the attractiveness of trade.
