Consumers can expect “generous discounts and unique sale offers” when shops open on Monday, the official start of the 2025 winter sales, during which shopkeepers anticipate brisk business that surpasses last year’s levels, despite the proximity with the holidays.
According to the president of the Piraeus Chamber of Industry and Commerce Vasilis Korkidis, in statements to the ANA-MPA, the goal for retail in January-February 2025 is for turnover to exceed that of the same period in 2024, or higher than six billion euros.
Korkidis said that this increase in sales is achievable, given a 6.4% increase in private-sector wages and a fall in 9%, indicating that the pressure on household budgets is steadily easing, assisted by a drop in food and beverage prices and in supermarket prices. The sales, he added, can also reduce inflation by at least half a percentage point.
“This year, however, we must strive to extend the regular winter sales to more sectors and especially to services, since the high cost of living has to a great extent shifted from commerce to services,” he concluded.
The vice-president of the Athens Association of Commerce, Makis Savvidis, also spoke of “great expectations” among retailers and of “prices beyond all expectations” in clothing and footwear, while he pointed out that the generally higher-than-average temperatures had “not been an ally” of the retail trade.
Many shops were preparing big discounts in order to offload stock, he said, as their turnover over the holidays had lagged relative to the previous year and only large chains and department stores had good turnover.
“Greek consumers made more purchases during the holidays in relation to the previous year, but of smaller value. They chose cheaper gifts this year, as they spent a large part of their income, over half, to cover basic essentials,” he said.
The development ministry, meanwhile, said that there will constant and strict checking throughout the market, using new digital tools, to ensure adherence to the law and that consumers are not misled.
The winter sales will last until February 28, while shops will be open on Sunday on January 19 and January 26, from 11:00 until 18:00.
They also warn that sales items must also include the reference price on which the discount is calculated, which must be the lowest price charged by the retailer for each product in the 30 days before the start of first discount on January 13. For products that have undergone successive discounts for a period of 60 days prior to the start of the sales, the reference price can be the original price prior to the first of the discounts, but only if there had been no increase in price over that 60-day period.