Promotional offers available as of first day of the year, but buyers are not too easily convinced to buy

The number of Romanians who saved some money to catch January promotional offers is not very high, considering the number of week-time visitors in the shopping centres of Bucharest. Moreover, consumers are not satisfied with the discounts displayed by stores, either.

Even so, the up to 50%, sometimes 70% lower prices are not enough to make Romanians rush to stores.

"This is not the discount period. It's the promotional offer period ahead of the discount one," explains the shop assistant at the Berska on the ground floor of Unirea Shopping Center of Bucharest.

Promotional offers in this store started on January 2 and will last until January 14. The true winter discounts will start the next day.

Over the past year, promotional offer and discount periods have succeeded one another almost permanently, with retailers using all the weapons to lure buyers. Whereas two years ago, when the crisis had not had its say, one could queue up for several minutes, today queues are just a memory of good times. Consumer spending dropped by around 6% in the first ten months of the year and clothes were among the first Romanians erased from their shopping lists.