According to a survey by the Association of Consumer Research (GfK), which was commissioned by the TextilWirtschaft professional journal, 70 percent of all German consumers are in favour of a general deregulation of statutory shop closing times. The survey also showed a growing dissatisfaction with current shop closing hours. Back in the year 2000 about 72 percent of costumers had still been satisfied with closing times, but currently this is true for only half that number which, according to the study, is also a consequence of special closing times during the Football World Cup.
The number of those people who would often like to go shopping after 10 o´ clock has also risen from about 50 percent two years ago to 60 percent today. The percentage of people wishing to shop regularly on Sundays remained unchanged at about 50 percent.
Quite surprising, according to Kundenmonitor, is the fact that the opinions by men and women or people from the East and the West of Germany do hardly differ on this subject matter. Also age is not really relevant in this respect. Even 70 percent of all pensioners are in favour of a deregulation of shop closing times. Although it is true that there a more supporters of deregulation among young and professional people than among older people and those not working, the differences between these categories of people are here again less than expected. 