Retail sales around Christmas are said to equal about 30 to 40 % of the year's sales; you should not be surprised that you are getting bombarded by heavy-duty advertisement in December. That said, here are three signs the Lebanese economy is getting worse year after year:
1- Advertising messages are focusing on "sales". This indicates a desperate attempt at getting more clients. We have heard that Zara Home called its clientele one by one to announce their sales on the 26th, and Timberland is already on a 15% off sale.
Take a look around your SMS or e-mail inbox, what are the most prominent advertising messages?
It could either be that:
- the retailer's Christmas sales predictions were not matched by the current sales, and he is left with extra stock he needs to get rid of;
- or, the sales were too low, and the retailer failed to reach his target, so he is resorting to desperate measures to get a piece of the pie.
When more ads focus on a "sales" message, wouldn't that mean that the pie is actually getting smaller?
2- Christmas in Lebanon means an incoming boost to the economy, as more expatriates come over to visit and spend valuable amounts of money. This phenomenon generally tends to cause crazy traffic congestion around this time of year.
Did anyone else feel that traffic was way less than the previous years?
3- More and more families are limiting their Christmas purchasing to the kids. Of course, the children were always a priority on this particular holiday, yet, never to the extent of being the sole beneficiaries.
Take a look around the stores... Where's the real crowd?
I would have also added a point on gift budget changes, but I have no way to prove that...
That said, Lebanese people have always been whining about their economy, will a change to the worse ever be news?
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