If you have passed by the big stores lately, you may have noticed the huge crowds, which take over all the available parking spots and the shopping carts and form huge queues at the counters. In fact, you have seen nothing yet, according to the retailers, which expect bigger sales this year than during last winter's holidays. And this target shouldn't be so difficult to attain, since almost all the big retailers have more stores now than they did last year, while some of them debuted on the Romanian market this year.
The hypermarkets, whether it is about the two Carrefour units (in Militari and Grozavesti areas) or Cora (located in Pantelimon) are most likely to draw the biggest crowds, since they are the largest stores on the Romanian market.
"The Romanian consumers are beginning to appreciate the concept of hypermarket. And there are more hypermarkets this year than there were last year, which has made customers choose these modern forms of trade," says Francois Oliver, managing director at Carrefour Romania. According to Oliver, the French group expects sales to surge this year, since it now operates two hypermarkets instead of one.
"The growth percentages are highly variable and are tied to many products - the difference is sizeable in the case of toys and specific products, such as pork, cakes, sweets and sparkling wine," Oliver added.
This will be French group Cora's first Christmas in Romania, where it opened a hypermarket this fall.
"We do not have experience on the Romanian market yet, since this is our first winter season here. It is hard to estimate sales, but we have noticed that the rush began about two weeks ago, and it is growing every day," Cora Romania officials say.
Under the circumstances, retailers expect the shopping fever to peak in the weekend before Christmas and on Christmas Eve. These days, sales are 30-40% bigger than the annual average, and in some cases they even double.
But customers are not rushing only to hypermarkets. The cash & carry segment, although not aimed straight at the end consumer, is working around the clock. Metro Cash & Carry Romania, which holds 19 stores across Romania, has decided that its units will work non-stop until December 23. "Night traffic has already begun," Metro officials say.
Supermarkets also have great expectations for this Christmas. "Season products are best-sellers, and customers are really thronging the stores in the evenings," according to the representatives of a Bucharest-based supermarket chain.
Also, to successfully deal with the soaring demand during the winter holidays, the stores of mobile telephony operator Connex have prolonged the regular working hours. They are now open Monday to Saturday, between 9.00-21.00h. Moreover, they will also be open for business on December 26 and January 3.
The Orange stores will also be open on Sundays and company officials say they even sold as many as 3,500 mobile phones in just two days.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro ; iuliana.susanu@zf.ro
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
