Between days of heatwave and competition from Shein, the summer sales in France end with falling sales

"The sales period is not what it used to be." The summer sales, punctuated this year by the heatwave, end this Tuesday evening, July 22, in most regions of France with sluggish sales despite a positive start to the year. In-store sales were down 5% over the first three weeks of sales compared to the same period last year, and online sales were down 3%, according to the Retail Int. panel of clothing brands for the Alliance du Commerce. Only Paris is doing well, with a 3% rebound after suffering from the 2024 Olympic Games .

"The sales period is no longer the only promotional time of the year," observes Yohann Petiot, CEO of the Alliance du Commerce. However, he calls for "putting things into perspective" : in the first half of the year, sales increased by 1.7% compared to the first six months of 2024. He particularly highlights "very good weather in spring and early summer, so many French people [...] may not have waited for [the] sales period," which began on June 25, to make their purchases.

The start of the sales was also accompanied by a heatwave in France , discouraging consumers from going out. "Apart from a few in the morning, we had almost no one around during the heatwave, it was really very calm," said a Parisian shopkeeper quoted Monday in a publication by Crocis, the economic observatory of the Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

"The sales weren't particularly appealing this summer, partly due to the high temperatures that discouraged customers, but also due to the vampirization of private sales," notes the study. "Private sales are becoming increasingly commonplace," which "encroaches on the sales crowd," emphasizes Bénédicte Gualbert, who conducted the survey.

The result of these four weeks of discounts is "overall very average," deplores Pierre Talamon, president of the National Clothing Federation (FNH), reporting a "lack of appetite for sales on the part of the consumer." "We are calling for the sales to be postponed to the end of the season," he said, emphasizing the need to buy "better, but less," a "paradigm shift." Despite everything, retailers remain attached to this event, which remains "a unique moment because it is the only unifying and unifying moment for all of commerce," emphasizes Yohann Petiot.

Yann Rivoallan, president of the French Women's Ready-to-Wear Federation, points to competition from Chinese retailers Shein and Temu as the reason for these mediocre sales. "I can't wait for the anti-fast fashion law to come out!" he says, referring to this bill, which was adopted by the National Assembly and then, in early June, by the Senate. It now requires a joint committee meeting between MPs and senators, expected in the fall.

For Yann Rivoallan, there is "something to reinvent" in terms of sales, "but as long as there are Shein and Temu doing everything and anything, it prevents us from building a healthy ecosystem for customers."