For the ninth year in a row, Progressive Party Europe is delighted to be able to bring you the full results of the 2018 retail barometer, our exclusive end-of-year report. Once again, we’ve picked your brains and crunched the resulting numbers accordingly, giving a snapshot of the party industry in 2018.
It’s been an interesting year to look back on, with retailers speaking frankly about how challenging the past year has been for many of them as costs rise, sales fall and the looming uncertainty of Brexit dominates all retail-focused conversations. It is unlikely to shock anyone to hear it confirmed that 2018 has been difficult in many ways, with only 7% of independent party retailers reporting that their sales had grown over the last year.
Happily though – and despite all the financial uncertainty reported daily in the news – customers are still spending roughly the same as before, according to the 73% of retailers who claimed their transaction values either remained static or increased.
Social media takes the clear lead when it comes to consumer engagement, with 100% of our respondents taking advantage of social media; a free and easy marketing option which remains hugely effective for engaging with potential customers wherever possible, particularly for balloon decorators and artists.
However, consumers spending so much of their time online also has its downsides, with nearly 40% of replies saying that e-commerce has posed the most significant threat to independent retail trade over the last 12 months. By extension, it is logical that many retailers saw the growth of their own e-commerce efforts having a positive effect – although this was beaten into third place by new products and streamlined competition.
Balloons retained their position at the top spot of best-selling products for the third year in a row with costumes dropping into third place, despite a significant growth across children’s costumes specifically. Halloween and Book Week both remain the most important occasions for the costume industry, with New Year’s Eve coming back into play after a few years of lying fallow.
For more analysis and to see the information in greater detail, turn to page 21 of the latest issue of Progressive Party Europe.
