Magazine: Sundays without shopping

As of 15 March most stores have to remain closed in Hungary. This measure will inevitably lead to changes in both the market and shopping habits. According to György Vámos, general secretary of the National Trade Association (OKSZ) the new regulation will entail a drop in retail turnover. Based on feedback from enterprises OKSZ’s view is that – unlike the government says – workers will be laid off too. Many stores plan to be open longer on weekdays and some of the employees will probably be forced to do part time work instead of their current full time job. Some small shops which can stay open on Sundays may see their turnover increase, but this doesn’t add up to much in value – reckons the general secretary On Fridays and Saturdays stores will be crowded, so people, will try to do their shopping faster in large floor space stores. Thanks to online cash registers, soon we will see whether former Sunday sales will be realised on the other six days of the week. Zoltán Fekete, general secretary of the Hungarian Brand Association is of the opinion that the decrease in retail turnover will be impossible to avoid in the short term. He underlined that the new regulation will have an impact not only on retailers but also on suppliers. The big question is how consumers will react to the new situation. Shops are closed on Sunday in many European Union member states, but the introduction of the new regulation would have required impact studies and dialogues with representatives of the trade and of the consumers. There are countries in the EU where they are going in the opposite direction: stores will be open on Sundays soon