European Footwear Retail Sales & Price Reports
Recap for September 2020

Starting from a broader perspective, overall retail demand across the 27-member European Union expanded for the fourth straight month in September, up a calendar-adjusted 2.1%. This reading marks a deceleration from the 33-month high set in August as resurgent COVID-19 cases across the continent began to curb shopping. Indeed, 17 of the 27 retail markets across the bloc posted growth in overall retail demand in September from a year earlier, led by sharp advances in Ireland (up 11.5%) and Lithuania (+6.2%). Heavyweight economies Germany (up 3.8%) and France (+2.7%) also contributed to the advance. Partially offsetting the overall improvement, six markets posted declines in retail sales, led to the downside by second-tier markets Malta (off -12.2%) and Bulgaria (-6.7%).
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The European Commission said Tuesday that Amazon breached European antitrust rules by using independent sellers’ data for its own benefit.

It has also announced a second formal investigation into the company’s e-commerce processes.

In a statement, the commission said Amazon was using the data of third-party sellers — such as order numbers, revenues and number of visitors — to inform its strategic business decisions, like reducing the price of products.
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EU Footwear Import Update
Reflecting Year-to-Date Shipments through August 2020
Confirming our earlier speculation, footwear imports entering the European Union tumbled sharply again in the latest month, falling year-over-year both in euro terms (off -10.1%) and in volume terms (-18.0%). First, at just €4.41 billion, the value of footwear entering the EU sank to the smallest August in five years, the sixth straight double-digit decline after seventeen straight months of year-over-year gains. The value of imports from key suppliers China (off -22.8%), Italy (-8.0%), Germany (down -3.9%), and Vietnam (-6.2%) all sank from twelve months earlier, the sixth straight drop from each origin. Given the recent declines in the euro value of imports, we maintain our long-held outlook for the full-year value of footwear shipments into the region to retreat sharply in 2020 from last year's record.

European Retail Sales Threatened by Faltering Consumer Confidence
Fears of a retreat in consumer spending in the eurozone are on the rise as consumer confidence in the currency union's major economies has fallen significantly since the outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19 infections. 

Daily data from intelligence company Morning Consult shows that consumer sentiment has fallen 12.1% in Italy, 5.5% in France and 3.8% in Germany since Oct. 1, when those countries started registering a surge in new Covid-19 infections. In Spain, where the second wave started earlier, consumer sentiment is down to a lesser degree over the last month, but has fallen a cumulative 9.1% since August.