The never-ending sales

Giants such as El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Carrefour and Eroski NEW promotions to encourage sales.

More aggressive sales of all time are endless. Giants distribution as El Corte Inglés, Media Markt, Fnac, Hipercor, Leroy Merlin, Bricor, Carrefour and Eroski have begun in March with new developments, for all practical purposes, represent a continuation of the traditional winter sales.

The crisis, with a consequent fall in consumption at all levels, has unleashed an unprecedented price war that is forcing many companies to refocus their business strategy, promoting discounts and promotions in atypical months for the discounts, which can up to 66% in the March.

Moreover, the contraction of consumption is such that the National Competition Commission has requested that retailers can make sales all year. For now, it's only a proposal. The reality is that the distribution of firms are fighting the crisis by actions and promotions to start immediately after the official closing of sales.

Media Markt with "The day without VAT, with El Corte Inglés" Fantastic Week "Hipercor with his" Marathon of Savings "or Leroy Merlin with his newly released" Operating since "they are a good example of the new developments made in launched during the last days. They are joined by firms such as promotions Eroski and Carrefour have launched recently. The French distribution group Carrefour regains these days 3x2 strategy and bet on price declines of up to 25%, while Eroski is celebrating its 40th anniversary with special prices. The chain of DIY, gardening and decorating AKI, in turn, gives a discount of up to 66%.

The leisure market is also not safe from the economic crisis. A good example is the protagonist Fnac chain stores, which has been forced to increase their range of offers and discounts even in the middle of March.

The textile giant Inditex, for its part, remains faithful to its policy not to discount off-season sales, although its string underwear Oysho currently applies special prices on a selection of garments under the slogan happy price.

Falling sales

The marketing strategy to reach the public as each company is different, but the goal is the same: to stimulate sales after a difficult season sales, which had been primed with small businesses.

According to recent data provided by the Spanish Confederation of Commerce, small and medium business have closed the campaign of the winter sales with a turnover of close to 4,000 million euros, representing a fall of 3%.

For their part, large stores, clustered around their employer Anged speak of a fall in the turnover of close to 5% during the first 20 days of the winter sales due to aggressive discounts applied, while ensuring that the balance has been "positive" given the economic situation of the country.

Business 05/03/2009

E. G.