On the third Sunday in Advent, the German trade association HDE gave a mixed initial assessment of the Christmas business. "It is still not enough for all retail companies to get a positive interim conclusion," said a statement from the association on Sunday. After all: "After the second Saturday in Advent gave cause for hope, the positive trend continued for many retail companies in the past week," said HDE CEO Stefan Genth according to the announcement.

Things went well for food retailers in particular, as a survey by the association of around 400 retailers shows. In the industry, 59 percent of those surveyed were satisfied. There was also a lot of positive feedback in the clothing trade, at 40 percent. "The low temperatures should also play a role here, most people buy winter clothing based on their needs," said the HDE.

According to its own information, the association expects total retail sales of more than 120 billion euros for November and December. Price-adjusted, however, means a minus of four percent compared to the same period last year. Even online trading slipped into the red for the first time in real terms: the association expects sales here to be 4.5 percent lower than in the previous year. However, this is also due to the significant increase in sales in this segment during the corona pandemic.