Abstract

The Sunday opening of shops is a very debated topic on both international and national levels. On a European level, the regulation of Sunday work is varied, with most Member States that, like Italy, do not impose restrictions on openings and working hours. The present work aims to analyze the European reference framework of Sunday openings, focusing on the Italian situation, which is currently experiencing proposals for change. Moreover, from the statistical analysis of the purchase data made in the main Italian stores of a multinational company, the "profile of the Sunday consumer" is highlighted, analyzing the characteristics and peculiarities that orient Sunday shopping. The Two Step cluster analysis provides different profiles, among which emerges the consumer profile of Sunday, which assumes peculiar characteristics and different from those of consumers of the other days of the week.

Key words: Sunday shopping, consumer profile, cluster analysis.