It will open today, Sunday, January 15, 2023 at the shopsin the context winter sales.

Stores will be able to optionally open throughout the entire territory from 11:00. until 20:00

Winter sales began on Monday, January 9th and will last until February 28, 2023.

Complaints platform

At the same time, the Ministry of Development and Investment, through an electronic platform where consumers can file complaints, seeks to exercise greater control over the market for speculation, fictitious discounts, as well as other violations by businesses at the expense of consumers. In fact, these complaints will be dealt with on a priority basis.

Complaints from consumers can be filed on the platform kataggelies.mindev.gov.gr and concern possible violations in Greece, in the European Union and beyond.

The platform shows five different topics that consumers can complain about: consumer goods, services, banking, insurance and other financial services, debtor information companies, debt settlement, and privacy protection.

Even if the General Secretariat for Commerce and Consumer Protection is not responsible for the problem, the platform provides the consumer with information about the service they should contact.

New rules for discounts.

The platform was recently introduced by the political leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the start of the winter sales, and this is due to the fact that consumers will have the opportunity to report fictitious sales through the platform, especially since this time the so-called 30-day rule applies .

In accordance with the provision contained in Law 4933/2022, the price before the discount is understood to be the lowest price applied by the trader within a period of at least 30 days before the application of the price reduction. The same provision provides that when a product has been on the market for less than 30 days, the previous price is the lowest price applied by the seller within 10 days prior to the application of the price reduction.

If the price cut increases gradually, the previous price is the price without the price cut before the first price cut was applied. In case of violation of the above provision, a fine of up to 4% of the total business turnover is provided. “In conditions of high inflation, we will help curb inflation in the next two months with real discounts,” Minister Georgiadis said.

Stricter rules for e-commerce

However, in addition to controls on offers and discounts, e-commerce rules are becoming stricter with the Home Office bill, which has been submitted for public consultation and will be submitted to Parliament in the near future.

In fact, in the same draft law, with a different provision, the procedures for the operation of online stores are even more stringent, since businesses will have to indicate on their website the VAT number, the commercial register number, as well as the professional license number, as well as fines up to 1.5 million euros.

The fine can be as high as 3 million euros if the online store in question is fraudulent, and the website can also be closed.

Market expectations intensify

“This year’s winter sales come at a special time, amid precision and inflationary pressures. At the same time, they are implemented in the new legal framework, since this time the so-called 30-day rule is in effect, accompanied by intensive checks by the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness in order to protect the consumer from fictitious discounts.” , Makis Savvidis, Vice President of Emporikos, celebrates APE-MPE of the Athens Association, Vice President and Representative of GRECA in Greece and Member of the Board of the European E-Commerce Federation.

According to Mr. Savvidis, the ministry’s specific initiative is aimed, on the one hand, at further price reductions for products, and, on the other hand, at protecting consumers from fictitious discounts by a minority of enterprises that operate in conditions of unfair competition to the detriment of other enterprises and consumers.

However, Mr. Savvidis believes that “this year, fines should not be imposed on businesses in case of violation of the regulation, as there was no time for them to be informed in a timely manner. In the long term, and especially in the next rebate period, if businesses are properly informed, the success of the measure will be a matter of course.”

Focusing on online markets, Mr. Savvidis highlights that e-commerce continues to account for an increasing share of sales: “This is due to the fact that Greek e-commerce does not move individually, but through branches (omni-channel). That is, every fifth Greek merchant (percentage of 20%) has an electronic channel, that is, 90% are extensions of a physical store. Thus, in order to make a purchase, the consumer makes a cycle between physical and online stores. That is, he orders goods online and receives them in a physical store and vice versa.

In fact, he notes that 2022 was the first year that Greece as a country broke the record for internet usage among the general population, reaching 81%. Notably, of those who use the Internet, 72% have made some kind of electronic transaction.

“The results are very positive and encouraging. However, our country, in relation to other European countries, remains in the penultimate position in the index of digitalization, society and economy, announced annually by the European Union, which proves the need to take important steps in the field of digital development,” he says

Regarding market expectations for the 2023 winter sales, Vassilis Korkidis, President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Council of the Regional Chamber of Attica, Vassilis Korkidis notes that “the commercial world hopes that the movement will be dynamically proportional to the start of discount periods before the pandemic restrictions, although they may signal something- something different and better, given that intermediate discounts, which worked “subversively” on consumer interest, were canceled.

At the same time, he emphasizes that “by the end of February, the goal is to recover and also exceed the turnover of 5.5 billion euros in the first half of 2019.”

Merchants remain legitimately concerned about electricity costs as well as feedback costs in their stores, Mr. Korkidis said, given January’s significant price increases on a number of items.

He even notes that, according to ELSTAT data, the retail sector, excluding supermarkets, has measured total losses of more than 3.5 billion euros over the past two years of winter sales and has moved to disappointing levels for 8 out of 10 small and medium-sized traders across compared to normal pre-pandemic turnover for winter sales.

What Consumers Should Know

As for consumers, once again they should be especially careful when shopping during the sales period.

The Union of Consumer Workers of Greece, on the occasion of the start of the winter sales, indicates, among other things, that the original and new reduced price of the products with reference to the respective unit of measure for each product.

Each price cut announcement indicates the previous price applied by the trader during the specified time period before the price cut was applied.

Also, when conducting discounts, in addition to indicating the old and new reduced prices of goods and services sold at a discount, it is also allowed to indicate a commercial message of the percentage of the discount.

Stock or Outlet stores must display the old sale price, the removed one, and the new discounted sale price in a way that communicates to the consumer the clear difference between the two prices.

It is noted that if discounts, offers or any announcement of a price reduction is inaccurate or misleading in terms of percentage discount or prices or quantities of products offered at a discount or offer, or involves any form of concealment or misrepresentation, the merchant is liable to a fine of up to 2% of the annual turnover and in any case not less than 20,000 euros. If a merchant is repeatedly fined for the same violation within five years, the maximum amount of the fine is increased to 4% of his annual turnover.