Slovak News Back to the news
Drahovsky: Trade Needs to Adapt to Adverse Conditions
Friday 22 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 22 (TASR) - Turnover results in trade have never been so low during the past 15 years, Lubomir Drahovsky from TERNO market research agency told TASR on Friday.
"The unfavourable results stem in large part from the global crisis and subsequent lowered consumer demand. People are trying to economise," explained the analyst, adding that the sector needs to adapt to today's difficult conditions.
The vast majority of top ten retailers suffered a lower turnover in 2009 – some seeing their turnover dip by some 5-30 percent.
According to Drahovsky, it's the non-grocery market segment that lost the most. "The trade focused on grocery products represents the least-affected segment, as Slovak consumers are known for their prioritising of grocery shopping. As well, the ethical trade code prevented retailers from raising prices during the currency conversion to the euro last year," said Drahovsky.
The retail networks in Slovakia implemented a number of measures in order to tackle the crisis. The construction of large shopping centres has been limited, whilst marketing activities and communication with consumers has improved. Some retailers relocated to cheaper places and have introduced a more efficient interface with their employees. "The retailers fought back, they felt the crisis slicing into their turnovers and did their absolute utmost to save the day," emphasised Drahovsky.
He added that the crisis also brought new points of view for retailer managements as to how adverse situations should be addressed. "Despite the fact that another complicated year is upon us, I hope that not many of the companies that play a crucial role on the market will go out of business."
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
