Popularity of gadgets reconfirmed as retailers record improvement over last year’s sales

Electronics and appliance stores benefitted from extending their Black Friday deals to last longer, according to The Malta Chamber of SMEs.

The SME Chamber said the aim of many Maltese businesses this Black Friday was to improve on last year's levels and come as close as possible to 2019 sales figures.

"Whilst the absolute majority of businesses did better than they did in 2020, some came closer to their expectations of coming close to 2019 than others. It is clear that Malta's economy is still suffering the effects of COVID and also other challenges coupled with this," The SME Chamber said.

The usual popularity of gadgets, electronics and appliances was this year once again reconfirmed. But while many retailers said that figures for November would reach their expectations, some leading players wished they had more stock in hand to sell.

Indeed, BusinessNow.mt has reported on the impact of the international supply chain crisis for some months, with retailers bearing much of the brunt.

"It is clear that businesses need a sales cycle that is closer to normality in order to make up for the hard months which are now behind us."

The SME Chamber also noted the challenges that businesses had to overcome this year.

"The impact of international shipping did not make it easy for our businesses to be stocked to the ideal levels, this of course apart from the cost incurred. Many businesses are also suffering serious delays when importing from the UK because of Brexit and report working around the clock to get stocks cleared in time for Black Friday.

Last week's heavy rain added yet another stumbling block to businesses, but this particular blow was softened thanks to online sales.