Retailers sell 20% less products in December, analysis finds

In December, one of the most effervescent shopping periods of the year, retailers will see a decrease of between 5% and 20% in the number of products sold compared to the same month last year, but they will have higher revenues by about 5% in the context of high inflation, shows an analysis carried out by White Image, an email marketing agency in Romania. According to its representatives, businesses that have not invested in audience profiling will suffer, as their sales will continue to be affected.

Although it is the month of gifts, in which historically Romanian consumers spend more than in a period without holidays, retailers that do not have a concrete analysis of the customer profile, do not collect their data, do not promote the right products, and do not have discount campaigns will register lower revenues in December 2022 than last year. Among the reasons for these decreases is the fact that Romanians are increasingly sensitive to price, this being the most important purchase criterion in the current context, but also the fact that many promotional campaigns are not prepared strategically, ahead of time, but at the last moments and without a well laid out plan.

“Nearly every business is concerned about or is already facing slowing or declining revenue growth as many experts believe we are headed for a recession. If until recently everybody was talking about increases in numbers, lately we are talking about strategies to support the business or, in the best case, to have a sustainable growth. In this context, marketing has a major role in any business, becoming a tool that must adapt to new conditions and maintain healthy operations. Earlier investments in retailers’ customer and prospect management technologies, CRM systems and email marketing and SMS marketing strategies, and the accuracy of consumer data collection and management are now beginning to be felt. Businesses that have not invested in audience profiling will suffer“, explains Andrei Georgescu, co-founder of White Image.

In the current situation, only a few categories of products sell easily, such as Christmas trees or decorations, holidays for this period or banking products such as credit cards.

Thus, to boost sales, discount campaigns are mainly promoted in traditional and online retail because Romanians are interested in saving. The most preferred method by retailers is to promote offers through email marketing, a less expensive solution, by which they send consumers the products they are interested in and for which there is the highest chance of sale. In addition, closer to Christmas, the sending of offers via SMS is more intensively used. Overall, for promotional campaigns in December, companies increased budgets by 10%-20% compared to a typical month.

“Consumers have become more price sensitive and are looking for attractive offers to save money. Thus, more than ever, companies must sell as smartly as possible and make use of all the technologies they have invested in so far or use from now on technologies and solutions that help them sell better. The power of numbers is often underestimated, but advertising to deliver results now depends on gathering data and accurate information. We anticipated this moment and developed our own CRM system, to generate higher sales in retail“, explains Grațiela Lupu, co-founder of White Image.