(Finance) – “Istat confirms the cold autumn of tradewhich is not ‘warmed up’ even by Black Friday. After the decline in October, the reduction in retail sales continues in November. Between the long tail of inflation and uncertainty, families continue to remain cautious and the ones suffering are above all small properties for which, according to our estimates, the reduction in sales volume in November reaches -2% compared to the same month of 2023″. Thus the Economic Office Confessors. The trade situation “appears fragile overall: sand the September data had deluded us that a recovery in consumption was starting, the last two months have confirmed the opposite trend”.
“The sales data for November,
lower than expected, confirms a situation on the consumption side which, although overall less negative than some time ago (in the last three months there has been a limited improvement compared to the previous period), highlights the difficulty of families in undertaking a path of significant recovery in demand above all for goods”. This is the comment by the Confcommercio Research Office to the Istat data today on retail sales for November 2024. In this context, which is very complex in terms of the different product categories and distribution formats, important difficulties remain for many of the more traditional consumer segments and for smaller structures. The November data also suggests that “Black Friday”, despite representing a important moment for family purchases, has been partly “normalized” and no longer represents an opportunity only for online purchases”.
Also the Codacons reports the “setback for trade, with retail sales falling in November compared to the previous month, both in volume and value”.
“On the sales front, the situation in Italy is worsening – states President Carlo Rienzi – On a monthly basis there is a strong contraction involving all sectors, both food and non-food goods, while on an annual basis there is an increase in sales in value of +1.1% corresponds to a volume cut of -0.2%demonstrating how families continue to spend more to buy less and less.”
“In the first 11 months of 2024, compared to the same period of the previous year, sales volumes fell overall by -0.5% with peaks of -0.9% for food goods – continues Rienzi – A trend that demonstrates the cuts in consumption carried out by families also in primary sectors such as food and drinks, and which should lead to government to study effective measures to support the spending of citizens, who continue to suffer from price increases especially in the food sector”.