BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Retail companies in Germany expect record-breaking sales between Black Friday (Nov. 25) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 28) this year, rising by 22 percent year-on-year to 5.7 billion euros (5.9 billion U.S. dollars), the German Retail Federation (HDE) said on Friday.
"The growth story of Black Friday and Cyber Monday continues even under the current difficult conditions and despite the poor consumer sentiment," HDE Deputy General Manager Stephan Tromp said in a statement.
Inflation in Europe's largest economy climbed to 10.4 percent in October, the highest level since the German reunification, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
"Many customers are now more than ever on the hunt for bargains and want to take advantage of the offers on these two days," Tromp said.
According to a survey published by research institute YouGov on Thursday, 27 percent of Germans had "very specific plans" to go shopping on Black Friday.
Although German retailers expect a weaker overall Christmas season this year, demand for consumer electronics, information technology (IT) products and small household appliances is bound to remain high, particularly due to the large discounts, market research institute GfK said on Thursday.
Last year's business was affected by supply chain problems and the COVID-19 pandemic, while this year, "consumers' smaller budgets due to inflation and saturated demand in many areas threaten to dominate the discount season," Gfk said in a statement. (1 euro = 1.04 U.S. dollar) ■
