The Immaculate Conception brought good tidings for shopkeepers as December 8 was the best day for sales, according to their representative.

Initial feedback showed that shops did exceptionally well on the public holiday that fell on a Monday, according to Carmen Borg, an official of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU.

The two public holidays – December 8 and December 13, Republic Day – in the run up to Christmas are a boon for retailers.

“Normally, the best day for sales is December 13 but this year it came on a Saturday, which deprived retailers of that extra shopping day during the week,” Ms Borg said yesterday.

As opposed to previous years, when it surveyed members midway through the shopping season, the GRTU will only carry out one survey at the end of the Christmas period this year.

But the organisation did gather feedback from some retailers in Sliema and Valletta to gauge shopping trends this Christmas and although not scientific, the findings seem to tally with scientific survey results published in newspapers.

Ms Borg said retailers in Sliema reported an increase in sales while those in Valletta reported marginally slower business.

“Parking remains an issue for Valletta retailers but seems to be less so for Sliema shopkeepers with some saying parking spots had increased,” she noted.

But the summer-like weather that has dragged on deep into December has left shop owners who sell clothes and shoes in the lurch, as their winter stock remains on the shelves.

“We’ve had some complaints from clothes shops because of the weather but confectioneries and supermarkets have reported good Christmas sales with some re-ordering stock,” Ms Borg said.

She pointed out that online shopping was a phenomenon on the rise and some shops were feeling the pinch. However, she urged retailers to also go online to tap the ever growing virtual market.

A survey by EMCS, a consulting firm, and Deloitte, an accountancy company, published in Times of Malta showed that Sliema and Valletta remained the top two shopping destinations.

The survey, done ahead of the Christmas season, found that a third of respondents preferred to buy gifts from shops on the high street, while 20 per cent preferred shopping malls.

Online shopping was the preferred method for 13 per cent of respondents and another five per cent preferred a mix of shops and the internet.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com