Businesses hope to clear build-up of stock during coming sales

PALMA
THE summer sales will begin next week in Majorca with over half retailers' stock on shop shelves.
Of the 400 retailers interviewed for a survey conducted by the Small and Medium-Sized Business Association of Majorca (Pimeco), 100 percent of businesses say they have more than 30 percent of this season's stock to put out.

The optimum level of stock to have left over for the summer sales is 30 percent, according to Pimeco.
In Palma, retailers have 53 percent of stock still to sell (9 percent more than during the previous season).
Outside of Palma, this figure rises to 59 percent (12 percent more than the previous season).
Pimeco says retailers believe that the market's behaviour before the start of the summer sales is a “clear symptom of uncertainty”.
On the whole of the island, 55 percent of those surveyed believe the next period of sales will be equal to or better, while 20 percent believe it will be worse. Significantly, 25 percent preferred not to speculate.

The percentage of those who believe sales will be worse in the coming period is at the same level as those who held this negative view last year.
But what is new is the percentage of those surveyed who are not sure how the market will react to the sales.
On the other hand, 18 percent of the businesses surveyed stated that the season, which has just ended, was the same as the previous one.
Meanwhile, 82 percent said that it had been worse.
No-one considered the recent season better than the one that went before.
The Pimeco report highlights the fact that there is a particularly negative perception among businesses in towns outside of Palma (82 percent), seven points ahead of the capital (75 percent). The survey also found that the business experienced a small increase (0.7 percent) in the index measuring sales compared to customer spend.