We vote on the first two weekends of promotions: will the legislative elections disrupt the summer sales ?

Les soldes d’été, qui débutent ce mercredi 26 juin, seront-elles marquées par l’attentisme des consommateurs, conséquence d’une campagne des élections législatives très incertaine. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

The 2024 edition of the summer sales begins this Wednesday, June 24, for four weeks. It comes a few days before the first round of elections. What will consumer behavior be??

For Yohann Petiot, general director of the Alliance du commerce, which brings together department stores, popular stores and clothing and footwear brands , the question is inevitable. "Will the political context play a role ?", he asks.& ;nbsp;Before inviting your interlocutor to note that “We will have the first and second rounds of the legislative elections, which will correspond to the first two weekends of the sales”.

So, inevitably, this can affect consumer behavior when it comes to giving in to this sacrosanct rendezvous of good deals that are the summer sales. “Consumption needs confidence”, the general director of the Alliance du commerce also points out. However, never, on the occasion of these legislative elections, has uncertainty been so great as to its outcome. Which, in fact, does not promote confidence.

“Before the elections, nothing happens in business”

“It is true that before the elections, in general, nothing happens in business”, agrees Michela Frattini, director of McArthurGlen Provence, the imposing village of Miramas brands, in Bouches-du-Rhône, which has tried daily, since its opening in 2017, to seduce a potential brand ;consumers estimated at 4.2 million people, from Toulon to Montpellier.

Yann Rivoallan, president of the French Ready-to-wear Federation, agrees: "the political crisis creates an anxiety-provoking climate. Consumers are in uncertainty", he declares in Capital. But for Michela Frattini, even if legislative elections "are for the first time organized at the time of the sales", the big advantage, < em>"the campaign is very short".

Optimism at Polygone Montpellier

In Montpellier, at the Le Polygone shopping center, which has 110 stores, there is a certain optimism. "I don"I don’ think that consumers are ignoring spending on sales, believes Aurélie Garnier, its director. Simply because historically, unlike the economic context, the political context has had little weight".

Same story from Mounir El Atmani, president of the GIE of the shopping center traders. "There should be no impact on our sales the first days of the sales, he replies. Our uncertainty mainly concerns Sunday, the day of the first round.The Polygone being, in fact, exceptionally open on the first Sunday of the sales.

"Since the dissolution, attendance has not decreased"

Retail players are banking on their latest observations regarding consumer behavior. "I note that, for the two Sundays that we have been open, the results have been very good", wants to believe Michela Frattini. She adds: "we have, in outlets, a power of resilience which is strong".

An already complicated year for commerce

Uncertainties regarding consumer behavior during summer sales which begin this Wednesday, June 26, should not make us forget the complicated situation in which the commerce sector finds itself. "The activityé is already there complicated since the start of the spring-summer season , says Yohann Petiot, general director of the ;rsquo;Commerce Alliance. This is the consequence of tensions on the purchasing power of the Frenchçquot;. But the difficulties are not new. "In fact, the break dates from Augustût 2023, he adds. Since the summer last, consumption is fragile. À To this, it is necessary to add a capricious weather, with a lot of rain since the spring, the growing competition from online platforms, notably with the two Chinese players that are Timo and Shein, as well as , finally, that the rise in power of the market second hand". À at the end of May, for clothing, the drop reached 30% in stores and 5% on the internet compared to the previous year. 2023, according to a study by the Commerce Alliance. No surprise then if professionals "are impatiently awaiting the sales, because çit remains an important moment".

Mounir El Atmani, for his part, sees an advantage which until then was slow to appear. "We finally have very good weather, with the return of good weather. And that, in our profession, is always something very positive", he slips. "It should boost our sales", he continues. All the more so, concludes Aurélie Garnier, that"since the announcement of the dissolution, we see, attendance has not decreased".

An assessment "at the end of the first week"

This is also the observation made by Simon Menant, director of the Polygone Béziers shopping center. "Knowing whether the political context will have an effect on consumption, we will see when we take the first assessment, after a week of sales, he affirms. But what I observe is that people consume.

Indeed, he notes, "after a start to the month of June with a lower performance, these last two weeks, we see the figure of& ;rsquo;business in the center on the rise. Like Mounir El Atmani, the Béziers manager welcomes the development of the weather. "The good weather comes at just the right time, especially for a center like ours, predominantly textiles".

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