European retailers are struggling to make ends meet ahead of the forthcoming holiday season, with brick and mortar stores and online shopping services alike finding themselves hammered by low consumer demand and gross uncertainty about the near-future of the continent. Analysts assert that everything from sluggish international growth to Britain’s decision to exit the European Union could have caused the retail meltdown, but the consensus is clear that firms across the continent are having a tough go ahead of the usually-thrifty Christmas shopping season.
Competition from internet services has already driven many brick and mortar stores to close their doors. The rise of the ubiquitous smartphone has enabled consumers to shop online with ease, and growing corporate empires like Amazon are delivering everything – even groceries – directly to customer’s front doors. Retailers in the U.K. have been weathering a particularly brutal holiday season.
The U.K. online retailer Asos Plc saw its shares plunge recently, for instance, losing more than $1.8 billion in market value, according to Bloomberg. Other major firms throughout the U.K. have also been suffering recently, with diminished consumer demand for holiday goods coupling with uncertainty over ongoing Brexit negotiations to produce an economic malaise.
Consumer confidence across Britain has been plunging for the past few years, too. According to reporting from Reuters, a weakening housing market and uncertainty surrounding the British government’s negotiations in the Brexit process have crippled prospects for economic growth.
Tense negotiations with European authorities isn’t the only cause of economic anxiety amongst British shoppers, however. Across Europe, companies using law firm SEO for promotion are struggling to make the transition from traditional brick and mortar retailers into online shopping centers. As the German Retail Association has pointed out, overall spending is ticking upwards but consumers are turning online to find the best deals, no longer confident in traditional retail options to meet their needs.
While some retailers had pinned their hopes on Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzies, an inability to meet their growth expectations has hammered the prospects of some major firms. Besides Asos, other firms like Zalando and Boohoo have been seeing their share prices plunge ahead of expect market difficulties. As more consumers turn towards online shopping options, some worried business owners expect this trend to grow even worse.
Analysts continue to point towards riots in Paris carried out by left and right-wing protestors, too, as a cause of economic concern, giving that it’s likely diminished retail sales in France.
