German retailers saw a strong finish to the Christmas shopping season with turnover for the period expected to be 1.5 percent above year-ago levels, a spokesman for the HDE retail association said on Saturday.
Kai Falk told Reuters on the last day of the season on Saturday that the HDE was optimistic its forecasts for a slight increase in turnover this year would be easily achieved after solid sales in recent weeks.
"Retailers are quite content after the Christmas season got off to a somewhat sluggish start," Falk said, standing outside a shopping centre in Berlin. "Christmas business in the final few weeks was very strong as a lot of people rushed to stores to buy presents."
Falk said the HDE expects Christmas sales to be up 1.5 percent from a year ago with full-year 2011 turnover up 2 percent.
"Compared to a very strong Christmas season last year, we're expecting Christmas sales to be up 1.5 percent this year," he said. "We're confident that we can easily reach the full year target of an increase of 2 percent."
Falk said demand this year was especially brisk for books, watches, jewellery and toys. Smart phones and portable computers were also in strong demand.