ELSTAT: Retail Trade in Greece Slightly Down in July

The turnover of retail trade in Greece posted a marginal drop in July, according to data released by the country’s statistics authority, ELSTAT.

The concerning figures come in spite of the summer sales by retailers, as consumers are trying to make ends meet due to the rising cost of living.

More specifically, according to ELSTAT, the overall turnover index in retail trade in July 2024 decreased by 0.2%, compared with the corresponding index of July 2023, while compared with the corresponding index of June 2024, it decreased by 1.8%.

• The Overall Volume Index in Retail Trade (i.e. turnover in retail trade in Greece at constant prices) in July 2024, decreased by 2.8%, compared with the corresponding index of July 2023, while, compared with the corresponding index of June 2024, increased by 1.2%.
• The seasonally adjusted Overall Turnover Index in July 2024, compared with the corresponding index of June 2024, decreased by 2.4%.
• The seasonally adjusted Overall Volume Index in July 2024, compared with the corresponding index of June 2024, decreased by 3.2%.

In light of these figures and the general rise in the cost of living, retail business owners in Greece have lowered their bar of expectations ahead for the major discount events of the fall, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“We had pinpointed early on the issues that would surface in the market despite the discounts,” noted Maki Savvidis, vice president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Greece’s representative in Ecommerce Europe, and vice president of the Greek E-commerce Association (GR.EC.A), in an interview with OT.

Source: tovima.com