Bonial, a media and technology company for commerce, with the help of OpinionWay, wanted to take the opportunity of the summer sales to draw up an inventory of the consumers who participate in this operation and in particular in the second discount.
As part of this study, Bonial also measured promotion thresholds that trigger purchases by item category but also the level of sales participation erosion over the past 10 years…
36% of consumers are waiting for the second discount
While 61% of consumers expect to make purchases during the summer sales, 36% I want to wait for the second drop to do good business.
Women on the front line
But the buying behavior of women or men has its own characteristics. In this case, 65% of women say they want to participate in sales against 58% as a man.
Furthermore, 41% of women will participate in the second markdown only against 32% men.
Strong regional disparities among non-participants
While retailers are ramping up their sales highlights and promotions throughout the year, it should be noted that those less interested in sales are more numerous in the Northwest (46%) and in the Southwest (45%).
On their side, 31% inhabitants of northeastern France e 37% Residents of Ile-de-France will not benefit from this period of falling prices.
The erosion of sales participation for a decade
Despite an environment characterized by rising prices, 6 French turned on 10 they claim to be making fewer sales than they did 10 years ago.
This behavior is also much more marked in women than in men and also in CSP- (see slides 11 to 16 of the complete study that you can download).
The erosion of sales participation over the last 10 years can be explained by the multiplication of commercial highlights throughout the year, for example in the “private sales” format.
Promotional threshold that triggers the purchase: strong expectations
In this context of great uncertainty regarding one’s purchasing power, the search for the best prices and promotions remains central for the French, especially during the sales period.
Of course, the French do not have the same sensitivity to reduction percentages depending on the sectors covered in the study. But it should be noted that in general, the average expectation of the purchase trigger promotion percentage is equal to 40% in all categories.
For their part, fashion and accessories buyers prove to be even more demanding with a purchase activation threshold close to 50%, i.e. 47%.
Methodology
Representative sample of the French population aged 18 and over 1005 people, region of residence. The interviews were carried out from 3 to 4 July 2023.
