9:51 a.m
After two years of the corona boom, sales in the Swiss retail trade fell again in 2022. This is the result of a study by Credit Suisse and the consulting firm Fuhrer & Hotz.
“However, retail sales were still above the values before the pandemic,” it said when the study was presented to the media in Zurich on Wednesday. In particular, those segments that would have benefited from the circumstances of the pandemic would have lost revenue growth without these special effects. First and foremost, this included the area of food and household goods (called “food/near food” in industry jargon.
Food sales had surged during the pandemic as people cooked for themselves when restaurants were closed during lockdowns. With the end of the corona restrictions, people are increasingly going out to eat again.
Shopping tourism is no longer soaring
The non-food segment held up comparatively better last year, supported by pent-up consumption, especially in the leisure sector, wrote the CS economists. Although shopping tourism has picked up again, it has not rocketed upwards. “This is surprising in that the Swiss franc has appreciated significantly against the euro over the past year, thereby strengthening the purchasing power of Swiss people abroad.”
Last year, the Swiss did not shop to the same extent as during the pandemic. (icon picture)
Photo: Keystone
This revaluation effect was weakened by higher inflation abroad. This moderate development indicates that shopping tourists are price-sensitive, because shopping abroad seems to lose popularity with higher prices, the CS experts wrote.
Other reasons may have been, on the one hand, the more expensive journey to get there due to the increased fuel costs. On the other hand, consumer behavior has shifted to some extent during the pandemic in favor of online ordering and fast delivery services.
However, online trading did not achieve the high growth rates of the two previous years either, wrote CS: “However, sales remained at a high level.”
Slight growth expected
Despite the bleaker prospects for the Swiss economy, experts expect growth in the Swiss retail sector in the new year. Supports are the continued stable situation on the labor market, a slight increase in real wages and immigration.
Nominal sales in the food/near-food area are likely to increase by around 2.1 percent, not least because of inflation, which CS expects to be +1.6 percent. Credit Suisse economists expect sales to grow by around 0.8 percent across all non-food segments. (SDA)