Retail sales are rising sharply due to inflation
Business
In the first half of 2022, sales in the Salzburg trade increased by 13.1 percent. But the bottom line is that many retailers are left with less than before due to the sharp increase in prices, according to a study commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce.
In the first half of 2022, the Salzburg trade – including motor trade – had a net turnover of 19.4 billion euros. That is 13.1 percent more than in the first half of 2021, according to the current economic report from the Vienna Economica Institute for Economic Research. But the bottom line is that retail has less profit overall, says Peter Voithofer from the Economica Institute: “Because retail prices have risen by 14 percent, there is a real drop in sales of 0.9 percent.”
However, different areas are affected very differently: In the Salzburg wholesalers, for example, sales rose above average by 20.7 percent – after deducting inflation, there was still an increase of 2.6 percent. In retail, sales growth is significantly lower at a nominal 7.7 percent, in real terms it was 0.3 percent more than a year ago. The industries fared very differently here: while sports and toy retailers were able to enjoy a 60 percent increase in sales, watch and jewelry retailers recorded a minus of 6.5 percent.
Car dealership collapse
The motor trade, on the other hand, had a bad first half of 2022: Here, sales fell by a nominal 8.5 percent. Price-adjusted, the minus was even 16.2 percent, according to the Economica data. The sharply rising energy costs are also making things difficult for more and more retailers. They could lead to “more and more companies running the risk of slipping into the red,” says retail division chairman Hartwig Rinnerthaler.