German retailers report "noticeable" turnover growth in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-02-01

Germany's retail trade turnover, including online sales, "noticeably increased" in 2019 as net sales rose by 3.2 percent to 543.6 billion euros (599.2 billion U.S. dollars), the German Retail Federation (HDE) said on Friday.

German consumers are generally aware of the "current macroeconomic downturn, but their mood remains stable," the retail federation noted.

An HDE survey has shown that German consumers are "less likely to go to stationary retail stores for shopping and spend more money on the internet." This is one reason why stationary retailers in Germany closed 39,000 store locations between 2010 and 2019.

This development "puts whole city centers in a precarious situation," said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth, urging retailers, politicians and the public to act together to "save the inner cities."

Overall, the prospects for the retail sector in Germany in 2020 remain "favorable". HDE predicts that retail sales would grow for the eleventh year in a row, up 2.5 percent to 557 billion euros in 2020.