Interviews
Clothing shoppers in for nasty surprise this Christmas
01 Dec '09
2 min read
Christmas shoppers in UK may be in for a nasty surprise this December, when they embark on their Christmas and New Year shopping. After having provided huge discounts in the last Christmas period and the best part of 2009, retailers are planning to cut discounts in this season.
Last year around the same time, over 90 percent of UK retailers were trying to outdo each other by offering huge discounts to consumers who were shirking the markets, in the aftermath of the economic turmoil which had begun from the US and slowly gripped other countries.
According to a analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) only 43 percent of city-centre based retailers were offering discounts or ran promotional campaigns last week, compared with 63 percent who offered the same last year in the same period.
According to Richard Dickinson, CEO of the New West End Company, the organisation which represents retailers in central London's main shopping district, “There's much less blanket discounts this year and only 40 percent of central London retailers are planning pre-holiday discount days this year”.
Last year, the biggest clothing retailer Marks & Spencer had conducted two, one-day special discounting days, in which it had offered discounts on most of its products of up to 20 percent, which is unlikely to be repeated this year, said the Chairman, Mr Stuart Rose.
Though, not everyone agrees that the holiday will see growth in UK retail sales. Verdict Research forecasts a 0.7% drop. Deloitte expects Christmas sales to be a 'whisper' up on last year, only to fall by 1.5% in 2010 because of a planned increase in value-added tax in January and potential rises in interest rates and unemployment.
Last year around the same time, over 90 percent of UK retailers were trying to outdo each other by offering huge discounts to consumers who were shirking the markets, in the aftermath of the economic turmoil which had begun from the US and slowly gripped other countries.
According to a analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) only 43 percent of city-centre based retailers were offering discounts or ran promotional campaigns last week, compared with 63 percent who offered the same last year in the same period.
According to Richard Dickinson, CEO of the New West End Company, the organisation which represents retailers in central London's main shopping district, “There's much less blanket discounts this year and only 40 percent of central London retailers are planning pre-holiday discount days this year”.
Last year, the biggest clothing retailer Marks & Spencer had conducted two, one-day special discounting days, in which it had offered discounts on most of its products of up to 20 percent, which is unlikely to be repeated this year, said the Chairman, Mr Stuart Rose.
Though, not everyone agrees that the holiday will see growth in UK retail sales. Verdict Research forecasts a 0.7% drop. Deloitte expects Christmas sales to be a 'whisper' up on last year, only to fall by 1.5% in 2010 because of a planned increase in value-added tax in January and potential rises in interest rates and unemployment.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
Popular News
Leave your Comments
Editor’s Pick
Therese Premler-Andersson
Textile Machinery Association of Sweden (TMAS)
Esteemed Clients
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
