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About a fifth of Finnish consumers are planning to spend more during the sales than last year

04/01/2012

Russian visitors expected to boost Finnish winter sales season

Almost a quarter of Finnish retailers are expecting more Russian customers during the New Year sales season compared to last year, according to a survey by the Federation of Finnish Commerce. As many as 38% of retailers are also looking forward to the arrival of Russian visitors to boost their turnover during the early part of 2012. Retailers are also expecting more Russians to visit different parts of the country in addition to their traditional shopping destinations in eastern Finland and the Helsinki metropolitan region.


Many Russian shoppers are attracted by the winter season sales that are launched by the majority of Finnish retailers immediately after Christmas or after New Year. The sales coincide with the holiday season in Russia and visiting Finland for holidays and shopping trips has become very popular. Finland is now the most favoured travel destination among Russian tourists.

According to the survey by the Federation of Finnish Commerce, 23% of retailers in Finland already started  their sales before Christmas, compared to just 9% one year ago. Sales started early especially in stores selling clothes, shoes and sports equipment, while the days between Christmas and New Year saw the start of the sales season in home furnishing, consumer goods and electronics. A fifth of Finnish retailers start their sales later in January or in February.

The survey also revealed that 20.7% of Finnish male consumers and 17% of female consumers are expecting to spend more money during the winter sales season compared to one year ago. Adults' clothes are by far the most likely winter sales purchase among  Finnish consumers, with 86% of women and 67% of men expecting to spend money on clothes.

For women the next most popular items are children's clothes (31%), followed by sports, hobby and leisure products (23%), and home furnishing products such as furniture, carpets and textiles (17%). Other popular purchases are books (16%), cosmetics (14%), tableware and houseware products (12%), and bags (11%). For men likely purchases include sports, hobby and leisure products (23%), electronics equipment (21%), entertainment products like games and DVDs (18%), children's clothes (16%), books (14%), and computers and accessories (12%).

Source: Federation of Finnish Commerce

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