Slumped purchasing power hurt Christmas sales, retailers say

Santo Domingo.- Dominican National Retail Council(ConPer) president Antonio Cruz Rojas onSunday said Christmas sales fell because of the "systematic decline inpurchasing power of families."

He said since the 2012 tax reform, familieshave been losing their ability to meet their needs, having to pay more taxes andstill stagnant wages.

Cruz said despite the many people in thestreets, businesses failed in their the estimated sales. "Most people usedtheir 13th salary (Christmas bonus) to pay debts and simply bought the basicsto spend Christmas Eve."

The business leader said every year theretail sales decline due to their losing purchasing power. "In 2013 was aloss of 8%, 11% in 2014, 13% in 2015 and 16% this year."

Improvement expected

As is tradition, retailers voice their complaintof slumping sales each year, parroting that last year was better.

But as it’s also a tradition the retailersstill hope for more dynamism in yearend sales, especially toys and other itemsfor children to mark Three Kings Day (Epiphany).