Italy Goes on Sale with Saldi

Holiday purchases may be down, but there is still time for Italian retailers to make up for low figures at the register with the start of saldi- Sales!

The beginning of January means some of the biggest markdowns of the year. Italian shoppers can take advantage of the sales starting January 2 in Naples and Palermo, while retail addicts in Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice will have to wait until January 6. Shopaholics in Aosta have the longest wait. Aosta is the last city to get the saldi started, delaying discounts until January 10th.

Due to a slow winter season, retailers are expected to offer an average discount of 40%

Analysts expect that each discount-seeker will spend around 173 Euro. The saldi are for serious shoppers and big business for retailers. The highly anticipated winter discount season represents about 18% of the clothing and accessory industry’s total yearly sales.