The market is entering the final stretch ahead of the 2026 summer sales, with consumers looking for lower prices in key product categories and retailers hoping to boost summer sales activity.

Summer sales: Kick-off on 13/7, what to watch out for

The discount period starts on Monday, July 13, as summer sales begin on the second Monday of July, and will last until August 31.

As part of the opening of the sales period, retail stores are expected to have the option to operate on the first Sunday of the period, namely July 19, with a suggested opening hours schedule from 11:00 to 18:00.

Summer Sales 2026: What consumers should be careful about

Since outlets are also included in the summer sales, the lowest price they had in the previous month must be displayed, not the one from the main store. Discount percentages are also an important issue. Indications such as “-30%” or “-50%” are not always mandatory. However, they become mandatory when reduced prices apply to more than 60% of a store’s products, while in cases of different discount levels per category, the range must be shown—for example, “from 20% to 50%”.

Price transparency is a key issue

Price transparency remains a central concern for this period. In order for consumers to clearly understand the real benefit, businesses are required to clearly display both the previous and the new reduced price.

Under the current framework, the reference price is considered to be the lowest price that applied during the last 30 days before the discount is applied.