European And American Retailers Become Losers In Christmas Shopping Season

The consumption boom in the Christmas season in 2011 has subsided. Taking a look at the external market performance, the US consumer market has seen a rare "boom", while European retailers are still not out of the "cold winter". What is the reality behind the ups and downs of the data? Can the European and American consumer market turn around at the beginning of the new year?

Big discount for Christmas sales in the US

Retailers and Shoe Retailers in the US 2011 Sale The total volume is bullish, and most of it is better than expected. According to the ICSC index released in January 4th, sales of 24 big retail stores, such as Messi stores and GAP, rose by 5.3% over the same period last year, and their total profits increased by 1.2% over the same period last year. The same store sales in December 2011 are expected to rise by 4%~4.5%, higher than previously predicted 3.5%~4%.

Among them, Ross (Ross) clothing retail store's performance in the Christmas season exceeded expectations, and sales increased by 14% in December 2011 to $1 billion 140 million. In addition, cowboy specialist Buckle and Sax (Saks) Department store Messi's department store, Nord Sturm (Nordstrom), TJX, and its Victoria s Secret underwear chain Limited Brands, Zumiez, Taghit, Duraz (Dillards) department store and retailer Stage sales also show different degrees of growth. "TJX"

Christmas is strong in the US increase What does this mean behind this? Has this little return been normal or just a flash in the pan? According to ShopperTrak, the Christmas harvest in 2011 has benefited from a big discount from businesses, which has been tempting by Americans who have been restraining consumption from selling the stores and shops sharply. In addition, the inertia of holiday sales, holiday gift giving and other factors also contributed to the growth of sales. Unlike the Christmas Storm that happened last year, Christmas day in the United States on 2011 coincided with Saturday, and the weather was good and comfortable, and to some extent, the Americans were willing to take their wallets out of the house.

Europe's retailers have suffered from the crisis.

In the UK, although businesses have also launched highly attractive discounts in a high-profile manner, the British market has suffered the weakest consumer desire in history due to the economic downturn and poor self-regulation at home and abroad, which has led to the collapse of the retail giant. The British feel pessimistic that the just concluded Christmas sale has only widened the gap between Britain's high street losers. The recession of Mothercare, a British baby and young goods company, has led to the job hopping of Ben Gordon. Many retail supermarkets are on the verge of bankruptcy or are suspected of defaulting on the Ben. Blacks Leisure, Britain's largest outdoor retailer, has been pre managed through consultations with KPMG accounting firm.

In other European countries, pessimism also plagued retailers. The debt crisis, rising inflation and consumer dissatisfaction with wage cuts all resulted in a decline in consumer standards and a cold winter in retailers. According to the data center of the Italy Consumer Association, the Italian consumer is depressed during the Christmas season under the influence of the economic crisis. In 2011, Christmas consumption in Italy totaled 4 billion euros, down from the previous estimate of 4 billion 400 million euros. In the consumption data, clothing and footwear consumption decreased by 18%. Greek clothing retailers also experienced the worst Christmas in a few years, and their sales fell by 40% compared with 2010. According to the Retail Federation of the Greek General Chamber of Commerce, the sharp decline in sales affected retailers' optimism during the Christmas holiday.

Women's wear needs to be saved

For textile and garment manufacturers, who first accurately pulse the market demand, who has the opportunity to easily seize business opportunities, in 2011, the European and American Christmas market, those who are compassionate with consumer spending tightening and discount businesses have greatly benefited. Saks department store Christmas month year-on-year sales and total sales showed a rising trend, and rose more than expected. Among them, women's shoes, men's and women's seasonal clothing, handbags, women's jewelry and perfume sales are the best. "Our women's brand-name discounted clothing is very attractive to consumers," said Michael Balmuth, vice president of Ross apparel retailing and CEO Michael Boehm. StageStores sales rose 2.9% to $274 million. Among them, children's wear, footwear, teenage clothing and small code clothing sales growth significantly in the past 6 weeks. Sales of Stein Mart, which had a poor sales performance, remained stable. The company said that these achievements were attributed to women's sportswear, women's underwear and accessories. Jesse Pani (JCPenney) store's same store sales increased by 0.3%, the company said, "our Christmas season's achievements, thanks to the purchase of children's clothing and accessories for women, is that they have achieved sales growth."

In Britain, bargains are the first choice for Christmas gifts. Crazy discounts make Britons only stare at high priced discounts, but these discount items do not satisfy the expectation of Christmas gifts. According to a survey, the total value of the British's undesirable gifts this year is up to 2 billion 400 million pounds.

Behind the empty heat is unspeakable optimism.

It is noteworthy that whether the United States is a little warm with consumption, or still in the doldrums of Europe, the industry's prospects for these two consumer markets are hardly optimistic. Caroline Glee F Caroline Gulliver, an investment banking analyst at London investment bank, said in January 4th that in the four quarter of 2011, the forecast of same store sales of the top 7 retailers in the UK would drop by 3.9%. In 2011, British retailers did not have a "big prospect" in January 4th. According to the uswitch.com survey, after Christmas in 2011, over 1/4 of Britons were deeply in debt, and the debt was more than 300 pounds, and the average debt repayment would take 6 months. Almost 10% of consumers would face more than a year of debt pressure. At the same time, these people are also trying to make up their reserves for Christmas expenses next year.

In the whole holiday period, American businesses generally offered a large discount to boost sales growth. But how much profit margins can be borne by the growth of total consumption? Al Ferrara, an American retail research expert, said, "retailers are obviously desperate to cut prices, in order to seize market share, and some discounts have already damaged the profits of their enterprises." Seals department stores announced in January 3rd that Seals will close its 100~120 store in view of its sales decline of 5.2% on Christmas month.

According to the Federal Reserve, the employment downturn in the United States will last for at least two years. Coupled with the spread of the European debt crisis, consumers are less confident about the future economy and consumer spending is still weak. Many Americans also live on high credit card bills.

Perhaps it is too early to consider Christmas in 2012, but a British website has launched a variety of tricks of "how to keep debt free next year", such as saving money regularly, joining Christmas clubs, saving 2 pounds for advance cards and membership card points, which may show how much money this year will be for European and American consumers.