Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/442526
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JANUARY 2015 News MARTINA BORG A decline in sales for chains which sell mostly clothes and furniture, but a rise for stores that sell elec- tronics has been identified by a re- view of some of the major groups of companies in Malta. A representative for the Big Bon Company who spoke to MaltaTo- day said that sales were not positive this year, particularly when com- pared to those of previous years. "December 2014 presented a much lower percentage of sales than December in previous years. However January 2015 presented a slight increase in sales," he said. The representative blamed vari- ous factors for the drop in sales, such as online shopping, people's wages remaining static, and even the extreme weather conditions in recent days. He also said that sales started at greater discount rates this year when compared to other years. Whereas sales normally start at a percentage of around 23%, this year sales started im- mediately at a 30% discount. Most of the clothes stores con- tacted by MaltaToday said that they registered an overall decline in sales, with only a few excep- tions. Theresa Bartolo Parnis, owner of Accessorize and Monsoon, said that this season has been very productive in terms of sales. "This year has been slightly better than last year so far," she said. Bartolo Parnis offered the weather as a possible reason for the increase in sales during the past month saying "this year sales were bet- ter than other years, particularly with regard to winter clothes and other winter accessories like scarves, hats and gloves." Marvic Camilleri, commercial sales manager for The Body Shop, also said that this period has been challenging on the whole for all outlets, with slight differences in activity in the individual stores scattered throughout the island. When asked to compare this year 2014/2015's sales period to that of last year (2013/2014), Camilleri also said that this year sales were lower than those of last year. Like managers from other stores, Camilleri blamed the increase in competition both from other stores and from online sources. In a survey carried out by Mal- taToday during the month of De- cember it became clear that shop- pers bought 30% of their gifts online, compared to around 65% who did their shopping in malls and other street shops. Camilleri also spoke about the best sellers of the stores and said that skincare products had enjoyed an increase whereas the fragrance section saw a gradual loss of popularity over the season. A number of other stores dis- cussed similar situations in their own shops over these past few weeks. Most store managers in Valletta said that the situation this year showed a slight improvement over last year, with one manager specifying that prices now are however much lower than they used to be around three years ago. When asked about which prod- ucts were most popular during these weeks, many stores said that trends were pretty much the same as they are throughout the rest of the year, with shops remaining popular with the same crowds they are usually popular with. The story seems to be somewhat different for companies dealing in electronics. Luke Tabone, ex- ecutive director of the Forestals Company said that 2014 was better in comparison to 2013, and that 2015 was so far looking promising in most product lines. Tabone also noted that there was a trend towards more con- sumer electronics, like tablets and laptops, particularly as gifts. When asked about the discounts given on products at this par- ticular period, Tabone said that the company tried to keep prices competitive both for local and online competitors, but that there is normally a discount of around 30%-40% on stock items. Rise in sales of electronics, sharp decline for other goods…