Galery

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There is a new competition in the everyday life of the Greeks and it is in search of cheaper goods. After the first shock of cutting some of the benefits of state employees and reducing the old people’s pensions, the crisis affected the private sector. The unemployed people in the country exceeded 800,000, the GDP decreased by about 5% and the prospects for the near future are even darker. This inevitably affected the purchasing power of the Greeks, who have become much more attentive to the price of the preferred goods. It made large supermarket chains adjust to the market trends and begin to offer much bolder promotions. Imeresia reports that they reach 60% in many cases, beyond the the sales periods around Easter, Christmas and the August holidays.

The commercial initiative of Carrefour-Marinopoulos hypermarkets, which announced June for the month of low prices, made apparent the desperation due to the drastic market drop. The retail chain promotes its new low prices of various products, which are changed every week. Their marketing strategy to increase sales includes a variety of products, from food to swimsuits, which are announced using a massive advertising campaign in the media. Other large chains, like the AB-Vasilopoulos, METRO and Msutis are ready to follow their example as they clearly felt that lower prices are still able to attract more buyers and they will also board the train of promotions.

"Consumers are becoming more cautious and limit their purchases, even for basic foodstuffs," said for the edition a senior official of one of the largest retail chains in Greece. "Most of the buyers come into the store with a list and follow it strictly," the representative of the company is impressed and believes that the shopping list serves only to help the people stick to the point and not for reminding them what to buy. The change in consumer behaviour is also noted in their preferences. 25% of the goods sold in supermarkets come from small producers, because it is believed they are better and because their price is more competitive.