Despite non-working Sundays, the value and number of fiscalized receipts in retail have increased

In the first 22 days of this year, approximately one percent more receipts were fiscalized in retail (excluding motor vehicles) than last year, and the total amount of receipts was 14 percent higher than a year earlier. A similar trend is visible in the total trade segment (wholesale and retail), where the number of fiscalized receipts also increased by one percent, and the amount by 13.6 percent (in the period from the beginning of the year to January 22, compared to last year). Given that the amount of fiscalized receipts in wholesale and retail in 2023 increased by 14.9 percent compared to 2022, largely due to inflation and price increases, and to a lesser extent due to increased consumption, it can be concluded that the rule on non-working Sundays, which came into full effect this year, has not left a significant mark on consumption. In other words, the majority of consumption has shifted to other days of the week.

This is also evident from the data on the value of fiscalized receipts by days of the week. While only about a quarter of last year’s sales occur on Sundays now, Mondays have become peak days for stores – sales on that day of the week more than doubled compared to last year. Although Monday does not fully compensate for non-working Sundays, it is not far from it. Some sales have also shifted to other days of the week, primarily Friday and Saturday, but the increase in sales on those days is not as noticeable as on Mondays.

Despite these figures, which show that in January the growth of fiscalized receipts is higher by 14 percent, or just one percentage point less than the average growth last year, experts in the retail sector have divided opinions regarding the ‘compensation’ of sales on other days of the week.

Martin Evačić, president of HUP-Association of Trade, believes that not all sales have shifted to other days of the week, as part of impulsive buying cannot be compensated, and that quantitative sales should be compared. He also added that the ‘non-working Sunday’ rule will not affect all retailers equally, and that the smallest ones with only a few stores will bear the brunt. On the other hand, a consultant specialized in this area, who wished to remain unnamed, believes that three weeks is too short a period to draw conclusions, but that in the long run, non-working Sundays will not leave a significant mark on overall sales.

– Of course, in this redistribution of sales, there will be winners and losers. Small retailers, as well as market vendors, will certainly fare worse – he said.

Opponents of non-working Sundays argue that when making these comparisons, last year’s introduction of the euro and the fact that there has been a general increase in wages should also be taken into account, which should result in a greater increase in consumption, which is now not visible according to fiscalized receipts.

However, such calculations are not easy to make, as it would need to be assessed how much of the wage increase goes to retail consumption and how much to other purposes. Therefore, there will likely always be arguments from both proponents and opponents of non-working Sundays that are not easy to verify mathematically and that boil down to ‘what if’.

What may more accurately show the effect of the new regulation on Sunday work will be the data on the business and profits of retailers in 2024. However, we will have to wait a little over a year for that. Of course, on the condition that the law that abolished Sunday work is not overturned by the Constitutional Court in the meantime.

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Total amount of receipts in retail (excluding motor vehicles and motorcycles) by days – 22 days in 2023 and 2024

photo Lider

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