Who Is Helping The European And American Consumer Market Get Warmer?

Although the European and American economies are still suffering from the adverse effects of many factors, the data released by the US Department of Commerce in December 13th showed that the United States was in November. consumer goods Total retail sales rebounded 0.2% in October, up 6.8% from November last year, and sales of department stores also increased 0.3%. On the other hand, the inflation rate in European markets has also eased. Does this mean European and American textile and clothing? market The warmer tentacles have begun to tremble? Behind the growth of data, business What efforts has the government made for the "rescue market"?

Market sentiment rose slightly.

In November, American consumers' desire for consumption was strong, and clothing became the necessary option in their shopping list. The growth of retail data is inextricably linked to the advent of Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States. Matthew Shai Shay, chairman and chief executive of NRF, said: "although consumers are still worried about the economy, they have a strong desire to shop for festivals, not just for clothes, but also for themselves to buy luxury goods." (Matthew)

As early as the beginning of October, NRF predicted a 2.8% increase in the two month holiday spending in the United States, but NRF said recently that it would reassess its optimism based on November's sales. Matthew pointed out that US retail sales in November were encouraging, but the real test is in December, because most consumption will take place in the latter two weeks of December.

The prospect of the US consumer market is worth looking forward to, and the European market, represented by the United Kingdom, is not as bad as expected. In November, inflation fell to 4.8% in the UK, down 0.2% from October, according to the ONS. Experts say that the reduction of clothing and footwear prices has contributed significantly to the decline in inflation. Overall, in October ~11, clothing and footwear prices still increased by 1.2%, but compared to the 3.7% increase in July, the current inflation pressure on clothing products has been weakened. Meanwhile, the UK retail price index in November also dropped to 5.2% from 5.4% in October.

"These data are positive signals for consumers and retailers. Inflation is likely to decline from the peak in September, and may even decline sharply in the short term." Helen Dickinson (Helen Dickinson), a KPMG accounting firm, said. But Helen has reservations about the consumption prospects of the British textile and apparel retailing industry. "Although inflation will decline, if consumers are unwilling to spend money and consumer confidence index is weakening, the prospects for retailers will be worrying."

Business promotion to attack festival consumption

If we want to explore the backstage drivers of the small increase in US consumption, retailers' promotional activities can not be ignored. After all, for retailers, under the background of economic downturn, they will never give up the opportunity to use discount to attract more customers during festivals.

American retailers Taghit (Target), Cole (Kohl), J. C. Penney and WAL-MART launched various promotional activities on the "black Friday" day. During Thanksgiving, Target, Kohl and Messi store opened their doors in the early morning. Most of WAL-MART's stores were open 24 hours a day, and 10 crazy sales were on Thanksgiving night. Sears stores and Kmart provide 5% cash rebates for eligible products under the premise of customers holding Sears's credit cards. Toy R Us, a retailer, started Thanksgiving sale in October 30th, and also offered an extra discount for its members.

Substantial discounts have greatly benefited businesses and sales are higher than expected. In November, US retail giant Nodes Tron (Nordstrom) same store sales increased 5.6%, up 5% from analysts' expectations. Sales of Sax's Department increased by 9.3% in November, up from 6.1% of the estimate. "Black Friday" is the achievement of Messi department store, midnight shop and other promotional means to attract them to many consumers, its sales in the same store grew 4.8% in November, higher than analysts estimate 3.9%. Some retailers pointed out that consumers' expectations for shopping are very high. They not only expect retailers to offer low price goods and strong promotional discounts, but they also expect businesses to give more exciting tricks. Many retailers say they will also offer a lower discount in December.

The government "bail out" to rescue the market.

At present, the key words describing the European economic situation, such as the decline in unemployment rate, high inflation index and low productivity, are endless. In order to alleviate this situation, what efforts have been made by European governments? In the UK, for example, Mary Portas, the British government appointed, has recently implemented a large-scale reorganization and rescue plan for the high street retail area in the UK. In December 13th, Mary put forward 28 plans to promote the sustainable development of the high street retail industry in the UK, including the transformation of large supermarkets and commercial streets, optimizing the consumption channels of the network and mobile communications, and establishing and improving new services to attract consumers. Mary Portas

In December 14th, according to the latest reform plan of the high street retail area in the UK, La Senza, an underwear retailer with 200 retail outlets in the UK and Ireland, was restructured under a series of programmes entrusted by its KPMG KPMG.

In recent days, France has also pushed ahead with the "re industrial" plan, hoping that French consumers can actively buy "French goods" and reawaken the consumption enthusiasm of the market with the craft of "made in France", so as to save the rising unemployment rate. According to statistics, the share of French industry in GDP has dropped from 18% in 2000 to 13% in 2011, and the number of employed people has dropped from 5 million 300 thousand in 1980 to 3 million 400 thousand in 2007, or nearly 36%. In order to get rid of the negative effects of the economic downturn, all the political parties in France are in favour of the slogan of "re industrialization", hoping to promote employment, domestic demand and export by means of "re industrialization".

Internet consumption is in the limelight.

In addition to various promotional measures and government measures to save the market, European and American consumers' love for online consumption has also made the online sales record refreshed in the past month.

According to statistics from market research firm ComScore, American consumers spend $24 billion 600 million online in the past month, up from $21 billion 400 million in the same period in 2010. Online sellers launched a large-scale promotional campaign on "Monday" (November 28th), hoping to attract as many customers as possible. According to statistics, the turnover on that day broke a record of 1 billion 250 million US dollars. The weak economy and high prices have promoted the rapid development of Internet retailing. American consumers are also more inclined to cheap products. Experts predict that the average household consumption in the Christmas shopping season will reach US $497 this year, of which about 2/3 of consumers will buy Christmas gifts from the Internet, and 15% of them will say that most of their Christmas gifts will be purchased online.

IMRG, the British interactive media group (IMRG), said that last year, several snowstorms in the United Kingdom have resulted in a $1 billion 237 million online retail transaction in the UK. "We expect 20% of Christmas shopping in the UK through the Internet this year." IMRG CEO James Rob said. Although it is estimated that the total retail sales in the UK will be limited this year, 15% of the 37 million online shoppers in the UK will choose to spend online. By 2015, Internet consumption in the UK will reach 50%. "In the context of the current economic downturn, Internet consumption seems to be the first choice for more consumers." James said.

In front of the Messi store in Manhattan, consumers began queuing up for Thanksgiving sales in the early morning.