This coming Monday, July 14, the summer sales 2025 make their debut, giving consumers the opportunity to shop for great deals. It should be noted that the summer sales 2025 will last until the end of August. Additionally, on Sunday, July 20, retail stores will have the option to operate voluntarily within the same framework of offering cheaper products, with recommended hours from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
As stated by the president of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Thanos Tsangaris, consumers should support local businesses and take advantage of the discounts with prudence and control. He also emphasizes that commercial enterprises have high expectations for this year’s discount period, encouraging consumers to compare prices and quality.
As he stresses, the consumer public can find adequate product availability and significant discounts to meet their needs ahead of summer vacations. However, he reminds that “businesses have many obligations and expectations for the discount period are particularly high.”
Finally, the president of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship made a call for conscious shopping behavior: “Let’s consciously choose to shop from our local businesses – because this way we don’t just support merchants, but ourselves as well. I hope the discount period proves positive for everyone.”
What consumers need to know about summer sales 2025
The Union of Consumer Employees of Greece outlines what consumers need to know about the discounts:
- In every price reduction announcement, the previous price that the supplier applied for a specified period before implementing the price reduction is indicated. The previous price means the lowest price that the supplier applied during the 30-day period before implementing the price reduction. When the product has been on the market for less than 30 days, the previous price means the lowest price that the supplier applied during the time the product has been on the market. If the price is reduced progressively during the 60 days before implementing the price reduction, the previous price means the price that was in effect before implementing the first of the successive price reductions. Example: Original price on June 10 (without strikethroughs/offers etc.) €150. The actual offered price €120. On 11-7-2024 the offered price is €115, therefore the discount is (120-115=) €5. (Law 5111/2024)
- Additionally, indicating the discount percentage is also permitted.
- The way the reduced price is calculated and displayed must be accurate and correspond to the truth.
- If a reduced price is provided on more than 60% of the total items sold, the discount percentage provided must be displayed in the store window and announced in any other commercial communication, and in case there are different discount percentages by product categories, the range of the provided percentage must be indicated (“from … % to … %”). In any other case, it should be stated that discounts apply to selected items, with reference to the corresponding percentage.
- The competent control bodies for implementing legislation on price reduction announcements and imposing sanctions are the Administrator of the Interservice Market Control Unit (DI.M.E.A.) of the Ministry of Development, for controls carried out by DI.M.E.A. control services, and the competent body of the Ministry of Development for controls carried out by the Consumer Protection Directorate.
Summer sales 2025: advice for consumers
- Prioritize their needs and shop based on their budget.
- Conduct market research before settling on a specific product.
- Not be carried away by excessively large discount percentages.
- Check – as much as possible – the quality and authenticity of the product and consider the quality-cost relationship.
- Be informed about the policy each store follows in case of defective products, warranty existence, etc.
For this reason, consumers should be particularly careful to recognize unfair and illegal commercial practices.
