The slowdown in inflation and the weather could push the French to take out their wallets during the winter sales which open on Wednesday January 8, despite uncertainties linked to the political context and competition from internet platforms.
“We can think that the winter sales will work”
“Is there going to be a craze or not? », asks Fabien Lignelet, manager of the Sandro store at the Les Halles shopping center in Paris. Private sales “are working quite well compared to last year. Let’s see what the first week of real sales will bring,” he adds. The “cooler” start to winter than in previous years could encourage consumers to spend on new sweaters and other warm clothing.
“Inflation has fallen, electricity taxes will be reduced, so there is a little more room for maneuver for consumers to treat themselves”
“We can think that the winter sales will work” this year, says Laure Brunet-Ruinart de Brimont, general delegate of the Confederation of French Traders (CDF), which brings together 23 federations of independent businesses.
Slowing inflation could also boost purchases. 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. “Inflation has fallen, taxes on electricity will be reduced, so there is a little more room for maneuver for consumers to treat themselves,” he continues.
Blurred prices
“I'm a student, so even if the sales lower the prices, it's still way too expensive,” says Elora Bonnemye, 20, who only plans to go to the sales to buy her ski clothes.
“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.
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 . “The perception of price is therefore somewhat blurred,” he explains. This phenomenon can even lead to a rationalization of behavior, according to him. “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. (…) This means that we are 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. 58% of the smallest traders said they were worried about the repercussions of the political crisis on their activity, according to a survey carried out by the SDI, a union which represents 25,000 very small businesses in France, including many traders.
“High expectation”
The federations want to be more optimistic. “We are not dealing with amounts as high as when we buy a sofa or a house.” Buying clothing is “still less engaging” for the consumer, so the fashion sector is less exposed to “political upheavals”, explains Yohann Petiot, who nevertheless recognizes a “climate which remains extremely fragile”. “I believe that we are capable of overcoming this instability,” agrees Yann Rivoallan, president of the women’s ready-to-wear federation, which represents 600 French brands.
For him, the sales are far from having become obsolete, he even affirms that there is still a “strong expectation” from merchants, he would like the launch date to be moved “towards the end of winter”. 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 commerce.
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