The summer sales are underway: a turnover of 3.4 billion euros is expected

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The rush of end-of-season summer sales has begun and for the first time they start on the same day throughout Italy with the sole exception of Bolzano. According to the calculations of the Confcommercio Research Office, clothing and footwear will be purchased for 3.4 billion with an average per household of 213 euros, values ​​slightly down compared to the 3.5 billion in 2019 when the budget per household was of almost 230 euros.

«I am particularly satisfied with the choice made for the first time in Italy by all the regions to start on Thursday 6 July with the summer sales thus avoiding unnecessary competition between territories – remarked Giulio Felloni, president of the Italian Fashion Federation-Confcommercio -. These will be important balances for consumers who will be able to buy fashion items at very affordable prices. Also on this occasion the fashion stores will contribute substantially to the containment of prices and, consequently, of inflation. We expect sales growth of around 5% compared to 2022».

Per capita budget of 227 euros

A breath of fresh air for shopkeepers who are leaving behind months of meager receipts also due to bad weather and inflation. To take advantage of the opportunities at the end of the season, according to Confesercenti-Ipsos, will be 60% of Italians who have an average per capita budget of 227 euros. Another 30% think about making purchases provided they find the right occasion. In all cases, choices are marked by caution: over a third promises to spend less than one hundred euros and only one Italian out of seven thinks they will exceed 300 euros: of these, 10% expect between 300 and 500 euros and almost 4% over 500 euros. The families that will spend the most are those in the Centre, with 253 euros per person, while in the Islands the expenditure is estimated to be below 200 euros. Some will draw on their fourteenth month salary, others on savings after a year marked by high energy prices and double-digit inflation.

So along the Peninsula

With an expected expenditure of around 510 million, Lombardy could be in first place in the hypothetical ranking by regions according to Confcommercio forecasts thanks to a per capita expenditure which should be around 106 euros, compared to the 95 average in Italy. In Tuscany, a recovery of purchases is expected with a budget of 213 euros. A big leap compared to the last three summers marked by the pandemic, when it was around 180 euros – reports Franco Marinoni, director of Confcommercio Toscana -. We have not returned to the levels of 2019, which were around 230 euros per family”.

The difference will be made by the many foreign tourists on holiday in Italy who can score good deals in the boutiques of the cities of art. In Campania however, according to Confesercenti, the turnover should be close to 900 million, of which over 580 in the capital. “Consumers from Campania who intend to buy in the sales are over 2.9 million, or 30% more than in the summer of 2022 – explains Vincenzo Schiavo, president of Confesercenti Campania and national vice president with responsibility for the South -. Their per capita expenditure is around 222 euros, for an estimated turnover of around 657 million euros. To them must be added the 2 million tourists expected in these two months, a good 38% more than 12 months ago».