Chamber of SMEs hopeful consumers will shop for non-essential items during Christmas
The Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) said that it is hopeful that consumers will shop for non-essential items during the upcoming Christmas season.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, CEO of the Chamber of SMEs Abigail Agius Mamo said that after the Black Friday period, where consumer trends showed that people stuck to buying essential items, there is hope that Christmas shoppers will buy more non-essential items.
Agius Mamo said that the expectations for the Christmas season are being based on the turnout of Black Friday, which went satisfactorily.
On Black Friday, Agius Mamo said that despite the yearly mixed feelings in some sectors, given the economic context of the world, rising prices and uncertainties, the Chamber is quite satisfied and encouraged by the fact that consumers are still very eager to shop.
She did, however, note that while consumers are going out to shop, they are doing it more cautiously, by budgeting and going out to shop with a purpose in mind.
Household appliances, home electronics and brown goods did well in terms of sales during the highly awaited period, and affordable and accessible fashion also did positively, she said.
Local businesses did well, and businesses who extended their sales to Cyber Monday, or till the end of November, did better than the ones who didn’t, she said.
Agius Mamo said that compared to other countries, where the consumer may be having a tougher time due to rising costs of energy, consumers in Malta are finding ways to handle inflation, as it is still in a state where one can manage it.
She also said that the Chamber observed a record number of people who went out to shop, seeing the same level of interest as pre-Covid-19 years.
On the other hand, high-end and non-essential products moved slower in sales. Despite this, Agius Mamo said that they are still seeing very strong consumption trends which measure up to pre-pandemic levels. The only exception is that consumers are being more cautious when it comes to what they spend on.
“We hope that goods that sold less during Black Friday would pick up in sales during the festive season,” Agius Mamo said.
She said that with many events being organised during the Christmas period, there is the hope that people will buy more items of entertainment.
Agius Mamo reiterated that people will still go out, enjoy themselves and spend their money, but apply a level of caution, going out with a plan and spending accordingly.