With Christmas around the corner and retailers relying on this period for much of their profits in the quarter, retailers are bracing for a difficult winter. The British Retail Consortium reported a 1.6% fall in underlying sales for November. These figures are the worst that have been posted for half a year, and send a foreboding sign to retailers.
The combination of the difficult financial times and the warm weather have meant that winter stocks have been hardest hit – but that all non-essentials are feeling the pain. The BRC warned that the figures create a bleak picture of what is ahead.
As Director General Stephen Robertson said about the figures,
“The weakest increase in sales for six months suggests consumers are keeping a tight rein on their spending, despite Christmas being so near. Consumers are not quite in the Christmas mindset yet, although stores are working to generate much-needed sales with high levels of festive discounting.’
Many other research figures show a similarly bleak picture. the High Street Sales Tracker, which is put together by accountant BDO, showed underlying sales fell 1.7% last month, while the Experian Footfall Retail Index showed a 4.14% drop in sales over the last weekend.