West faces a bleak holiday sales season

Persistent inflation, rising interest rates bite purchasing power: expert

Black Friday, the traditional shopping carnival in the West, which falls on November 25 this year, is expected to meet headwinds in terms of sales amid the challenging spe nding environment in the US and Europe as persistent inflation and rising interest rates continue to bite purchasing power, businesses and experts said.

Different from previous years, when Chinese crossborder e-commerce platforms tried to double down on Black Friday, which marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the West featuring deep discounts and packed retail outlets, exporters have reduced their expectations as inflationhit consumers curb their expenditures.

Zhu Qiucheng, CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, told the Global Times that “based on the data we have monitored, there won’t be a peak sales season this year as consumption power is declining in the US amid rising inflation.”

“Most sellers are clearing their inventory this year, and last year’s inventory may not have been sold,” Zhu added.

Given the bleak outlook, Zhu’s company has increased shipments to other markets such as South Korea and Southeast Asia where orders have surged recently, he said.

A trading company engaged in accessories based in Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang Province, has lowered expectations for sales during the Black Friday shopping spree and the Christmas sales season in December.

“Our current measure to improve our performance is by cleaning out inventory as much as possible while promoting sales,” a representative of the company told the Global Times on Thursday.

E-commerce sales were largely flat in the first few weeks of November in the US, latest data from Adobe Analytics, which tracked 80 of the top 100 US retailers, showed, indicating that consumers are taking a more cautious approach to their holiday shopping this year.

Inflation is curbing the purchasing power of European and American shoppers, and uncertain economic outlook affects consumer spending plans, experts said.