PARIS — Paris stores have seen a sharp drop in footfall and sales in the wake of a series of terror attacks that killed 17 people last week, data released Tuesday showed.
According to a survey by Toluna for retail trade publication LSA, foot traffic in the Paris region fell 10 percent on the first weekend of the sales versus the same period a year earlier, following the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which claimed 12 victims and set off a chain of related killings.
Nationwide, revenues on the first weekend of the sales were down 8.3 percent, it added. An estimated 3.7 million people marched across France on Sunday to commemorate the victims and defend freedom of expression.
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“With the emotion and anxiety triggered by the terrorist attacks, French people feel more like citizens than consumers,” said Philippe Guilbert, managing director of Toluna, a market research and data collection firm based in France.
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“Footfall fell strongly in the Paris region, and consumers are frequently limiting themselves to making purchases they have been planning for a while,” he added.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo last Wednesday coincided with the first day of the winter sales in France. Since then, 69.2 percent of respondents have made a purchase, down 2 percentage points versus 2014. They are also spending less — an average of 142.46 euros, or $168.62, down 5 percent from last year, Toluna found.
Guilbert said the impact of the attacks was immediate in the Paris region, but less pronounced in the rest of the country. However, 75.5 percent of respondents said they planned to hit the sales in the next few weeks, and e-commerce progressed slightly over the weekend.
“This drop in revenues during the sales is perhaps not definitive because a majority of people plan to attend or return to the sales before they officially end. The next few weeks will tell if there is a catch-up effect and which retail venues are permanently privileged or penalized,” he said.
On Tuesday, the scene at tony Left Bank department store Le Bon Marche, was very calm. Security guards at the entrance asked all shoppers to open their bags, and were equipped with wand style metal detectors.
Toluna polled 1,503 people aged over 18 by Internet on Saturday and Sunday. The results were adjusted to reflect the population in terms of region, sex and age.
Separately, the National Council of Shopping Centers (CNCC) said foot traffic at shopping centers in the Paris region was down 18.2 percent year-on-year on Friday and down 17 percent on Sunday. Between Jan. 7 and 11, foot traffic in the Paris region was down 12.2 percent and it fell 7.8 percent nationwide during the period, the CNCC added.
On Tuesday, French President François Hollande paid homage to the three police officers slain while Prime Minister Manuel Valls joined members of parliament in paying homage to all 17 people gunned down in the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, on a police officer and at a kosher supermarket.
The lawmakers observed a minute of silence before singing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise.
Valls said France, which voted for new antiterror laws in November, planned to further bolster measures designed to protect it from attacks, including reinforcing controls on the Internet and tighter surveillance of radical Islamists in French prisons.
France this week deployed 10,000 troops to boost security in “sensitive spots” nationwide, in an unprecedented mobilization of the country’s armed forces on domestic soil. It has also dispatched 4,700 police officers and gendarmes to protect 717 Jewish schools and places of worship across the country.
The climate of insecurity has raised concerns that tourists could shun the French capital, which was the number one city worldwide for tax-free shopping in 2014, according to data provided by Global Blue, which tracks activity in 37 markets.
Later this month, Paris will host the twice-yearly couture and men’s wear shows, and it is likely that security will be reinforced at the entrance to the respective venues.