The future indicator for occasional goods retail trade fell by as much as 5.2 units in January to 91.2. The trade feels that consumers' purchasing power is still weak. Furthermore, the increasing competition from foreign e-commerce platforms, such as Temu and Shein, is causing concern.
During the Christmas trade, 17 percent of Swedish consumers shopped from these Chinese low-price sites.
"When goods can be purchased at unrealistically low prices from actors who do not follow the same rules and fees as Swedish traders, the competition becomes distorted. We are now seeing this reflected in these bleak figures," says Svensk Handel's CEO Sofia Larsen in a press release.
