The influence of the open Sunday sale
In most federal states, the open Sunday takes place around four times a year. It is a popular trading day. We did a flash poll on social media: Overall, 42 percent of all participants would like to see shopping on all days of the week. Thirty-six percent find open Sunday sales helpful. Only 22 percent saw no benefit and don't need an extra day to shop downtown.
Open Sundays have predominantly favorable arguments and it can be said that stationary trade fundamentally benefits on these days. A survey of its members by the Baden-Württemberg Trade Association, for example, confirms this assumption: 71 percent of retailers said that they generate significantly more sales than usual on these days. Some retailers even stated that they record the highest daily sales of the year here.
Influenceon different age groups
YouGov, a listed British market and opinion research institute, undertook an age-related survey. The result is a surprise in that the findings from the survey do not match actual mobility behavior, which we analyzed in a survey. In the 18-29 age group, 48 percent said they prefer shopping on seven days. In the 60-plus age group, on the other hand, the figure is only 36 percent. In an evaluation by age group of WHATALOCATION's mobility behavior between 2019 and 2022 in the BIG-7 (Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Cologne, Munich), the analyses revealed that passersby in the 60 plus age group not only show the highest growth in visitor numbers, but also the highest activity in the corresponding downtown areas on Sundays when sales are open. Compared to the rest of the age groups, young people hardly seem to take part in the Sunday events.
But why do we see such a dynamic shift in age groups? Perhaps it is due to an unbalanced offer for each age group? Do youthful groups fundamentally not feel attracted by the additional opportunity to shop? Although Germans like to use their "holy Sunday" as a day of rest, a short Sunday stopover at the supermarket would come in handy. The mental attitude towards open Sundays can be influenced. In this case, we are talking specifically about younger consumers. In today's world, these consumers are much more international, where open Sundays are the norm and a German consumer is strongly influenced. The international environment demands such a trend. Take the United States, for example. The United States is a consumer country and everywhere there is a lot of emphasis on a consumer-oriented focus. Shopping means pleasure.
So if we spend time abroad, we encounter this flexibility and we change our attitude. In the end, it's the consumer who brings in the revenue. If brick-and-mortar retail were able to meet the needs of consumers, it would also do the economy good. For this reason, it is important to closely monitor the international environment and evaluate its influence.
Visitor activities
Our own studies show that open Sundays are accepted by the population. We examined and compared pedestrian activity in the relevant locations on Sundays before, after and during the open Sunday. On average, activity on open Sundays is 48.5 percent higher than on normal Sundays when stores are closed. (Note: For the sake of completeness, we note that during the pandemic period, open Sundays did not occur everywhere. We only worked with the cities with open Sundays during this period).
A comparison with the number of passers-by during the week is also worthwhile. Of course, no city achieves equivalent results on a Sunday when sales are open, but it is clear that this day often shows the same activity trends. On average, only 28 percent more passers-by are missing to catch up with an average weekday. Considering that the reason for visiting on Sunday is more focused on consumption and less on visiting the local office, there are clear indications that passersby willing to shop must have a very strong influence on the economic performance in the retail sector.
An occasionas a visitor magnet?
Mobility data confirm importance of occasion reference, shopping also important
In Germany, Sunday sales must always be justified by an occasion, such as a city festival. WHATALOCATION's research shows that people are drawn to event areas in roughly equal numbers as they are to stores. "Often there is the accusation that an event is only used as a sham occasion to open stores. Visitors would only visit stores and not the event. Our investigation refutes this accusation," notes Henning Haltinner.
We see a trend towards more activity in shopping malls and less in event spaces from 2021. Most likely, this will be due to post-pandemic caution among passersby. (Note: The evaluation "visitor magnet" could only be made in those cities where a clear spatial separation of the shopping street and event area could be made.) But, to identify a clear long-term trend here, we should wait for more data and instead take a long-term look at the data.
So should the occasion reference be overturned? Here, too, the Baden-Württemberg Trade Association confirms the trend shown above with a survey of its members:
Development of the length of stay actuate the acceptance of the open Sunday.
So on open Sundays, it's not just the shoppers who benefit, but the sellers. For example, this additional day offers all retailers increased flexibility in the distribution of working hours within the week. In addition, open Sundays allow for more jobs, and the stress of shopping on a Saturday is further reduced by having an extra day. So businesses and consumers benefit in general.
WHATALOCATION took a close look at dwell time in addition to visitor numbers and found that typical consumer visits, 60-120 minutes, showed extraordinary growth in the downtown area before (2019) and after (2022) the pandemic. On average, the percentage of visitors here was up to 4.2 percent higher than on a weekday in the same week. This is another indication that the population gratefully accepts and also uses the additional opportunity to store. In a direct comparison with a "closed Sunday", the open Sunday can even record 22.9 percent more visitors who spend at least 60-120 minutes in the city center locations.
"There aremore typical consumer visits on open Sundays than during the week, because the number of visitors largely omits workers:inside who are in town during the week for work reasons," comments Henning Haltinner, CEO of WHATALOCATION. "That means Sundays in particular offer retailers an opportunity because people are more focused on consumption and entertainment."
We all know the trends of the growing group of online shoppers, which continues to increase every year. Various studies show that retailers are facing immense competition from online shopping. And this is only natural, as the digital world offers shoppers services that brick-and-mortar retailers cannot. Shoppers can make purchases from the comfort of their sofa at any time. This flexibility is further enhanced by countless shipping options and free product returns.
Open Sunday is strategically very important for these and other reasons, because it allows retailers to remain competitive in the market. Retail shopping offers an emotional shopping experience and another argument for the open Sunday is tourism, which means an additional source of income, especially in the BIG-7, where mostly also many international tourists travel.
Conclusion is that the open Sunday stands for a gained quality of life, all stakeholders benefit from this day and that it is also accepted by the population - according to some surveys. The open Sunday offers flexibility to the consumer and more working hours and jobs to the retailer. To be competitive, retailers must closely monitor environmental factors and changes in the needs of the population. We are therefore convinced that the open Sunday should not be criticized or questioned, but even supported.
Henning Haltinner, CEO of WHATALOCATION, puts the research in context:
"Despite all the emotionalism surrounding the issue of open Sundays, surely all sides can agree that our city centers would be dead without retailers. Our data on visitor numbers show that retailers benefit extraordinarily from open stores on Sundays, because a public focused on consumption and entertainment is out and about. There may also be very obvious reasons for this: Many people don't work on Sundays and can therefore take advantage of the events on offer, including shopping, without stress. In addition, there is no rush-hour traffic. If we want our cities to remain vibrant places, we should allow retailers to open more often on Sundays. In addition to other necessary measures, this will strengthen stationary retail in competition with Internet retailers and, of course, also gastronomy and culture. All together in combination form attractive city centers. "
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