Consumption and summer sales How are Spaniards behaving?

Summer sales have always had an impact on retail revenues, hence they have become a constant at this time of the year.

For physical shops, summer sales are part of their marketing strategy. Now, we see how this strategy is also being applied by e-retailers, with very good results.

More and more consumers are joining online shopping. This is according to the company CRITEOwhich revealed that 18.8 million people working in Spain shop online. It also notes that a similar number, 18.1 million to be exact, have ever used a Marketplace. 

Competition for retailers' attention is fierce and what makes the difference is the effectiveness of marketing strategies to achieve consumer preference. Hence the importance of understanding how consumers behave at a specific juncture, and then defining a strategy to attract them.

That's why at eXprimeNet we carry out the market study on consumer spending and summer sales in Spain. Let's talk about the study.

Consumption during the summer sales season 

Aware of the growing e-commerce in the world and especially in Spain, eXprimeNet recently surveyed more than 1,000 users across Spain through social media. The population consulted consisted of men and women aged between 16 years old and over 60 years old.

A first important aspect to consider is that, according to the study, 80% of consumers make their purchases in the first half of July. Likewise, they plan what they are going to buy in June. This gives retailers a first piece of information to define when to start advertising.

Population willing to spend 

The study found that 86% of respondents were willing to spend in the summer sales. However, the variation in purchase intention from one year to the next is also interesting for the development of the marketing strategy. Table 1 shows how much people were willing to spend in 2022 compared to what they spent in 2021.

Table 1. Comparison of consumers' willingness to spend on summer sales in 2022 compared to what they spent in 2021.

In table 2, we will see how much, in Euros, they were willing to spend or spent in the sales.

Table 2. Population's willingness to spend in euros during the summer sales.

As can be seen, the majority of Spaniards were willing to spend between 100 and 300 euros to take advantage of this year's summer sales, despite the inflationary process. This is explained by the fact that the majority (81%) consider shopping during the summer sales to be an opportunity. This confirms that the context of the summer sales is favourable for increasing sales.

What to buy and where?

Other interesting numbers for the strategy is knowing what to sell, with 81% stating that they would only buy what is necessary. The following table will help to learn more about this variable.

Table 3. Percentage of the population willing to buy in certain product segments.

The most sought-after brands are Zara, Eseoese, Roberto Verino, Stradivarius, Mango, Pedro del Hierro, Lola Casademunt, Calzedonia and Silbon. 

The study indicates that 47% of consumers assume that there are bargains to be had in both online and physical shops. For their part, infoRETAIL also mentions the significant fact that 76% of Spaniards will shop online during the sales period.

Undoubtedly, these results should be considered in the marketing strategies of retail businesses. They are significant when it comes to knowing when to advertise to potential customers, what to offer and what budget range is considered most viable.