Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-05-08, 10:57:20 | version 1.38.0
12 ANNUAL REPORT 2014Deutsche EuroShop SHOPPING The rolls conspiracy K atja Lüders* is embar- rassed at the coun- ter. Every Sunday the lively Berliner jogs to her regular baker in Arkona- Kiez, at the edge of the Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg districts. As always, she orders rolls for her family, and as always she has a five euro note ready. But this time, it isn’t enough. She hears the saleswoman say, “Five euro twenty” – her whole grain rolls have gone up in price yet again. In fact, her usual order is a full 10% more. Katja feels that the inflation figures published on Friday are a joke. In June, infla- tion was one per cent, in May it was even lower, 0.9%, the lowest since 2010. Every month the Federal Statisti- cal Office announces the change in the consumer price index – what normal people call inflation. For months, the official inflation figure has been unbelievably low, so low that basically we’d have to say that prices are standing still, not “blow- ing up” (the original meaning of the Latin word “inflatio”). But for many people, their everyday experience is the same as Katja’s. No change in prices? No way! Perceived inflation – not just at the baker’s, in restaurants as well – is at least five times as high as the official average. Consum- ers are also seeing inflation at the checkout. Dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt have increased visibly in price. In fact, some prices have risen by double digits since mid-2013. If you’re buying a new house or renovating your home, you’ll also be looking at inflation well above 1.0%. “The composition of the market bas- ket of consumer goods is not reflect- ing the inflation that consumers are seeing. Bakery products are a case in point, with some of them having been subject to double-digit price in- creases for years,” comments Man- fred Rath, portfolio manager at KSW people feel there’s a conspiracy to hide the true level of inflation from the man in the street. The discrepancy between per- sonal experience and the official fig- ures is real, not only because inflation is a political issue in Germany. The trend in consumer prices is a general factor in numerous national policy and business decisions. It’s also im- mensely important for personal fi- nancial issues. It makes a huge dif- ference for pensioners and investors if inflation is running at one per cent, or three or five per cent. There are good reasons why many people in Germany are not seeing the official inflation figures reflected in reality. The Federal Statistical Office calculates around 300,000 prices every month. But Asset Management in Nuremberg. Consumers are noticing this fact and are running into it almost daily. “The figures from the Federal Statistical Office are pulling the wool over consumers’ eyes, pro- fessionally speaking,” criticizes asset manager Lothar Koch, who feels that the composition of the official market basket of consumer goods is hiding actual inflation in Germany. “What the statisticians are doing is a whitewash.” Many Inflation is officially lower than it’s been for years. For many, however, inflation is significantly higher. » The figures from the Federal Statistical Office are pulling the wool over consumers’ eyes professionally speaking Numbers with a spin 67% Percentage of Germans who specify the lack of queues as the biggest advantage of online shopping over shopping in traditional stores: 67% (Source: Symphony EYC) 156 hrs. Yearly amount of time lost by PC users in Germany due to long waits: 156 hours (Source: SanDisk) 2,500 Number of shops that will be opened by online retailers in Germany over the next five years: around 2,500. (Source: IFH Institut für Handelsforschung)