In a survey was conducted by Confederation of British Industry (CBI) during November 1-16, 2005 reveals that retailers look set to face a testing festive period.
The CBI quarterly figures released on Thursday show sales are heavily down on a year ago.
Both the sales reported for November and expectations for the coming month are the worst recorded in the 22-year history of the CBI's Distributive Trades Survey.
More than half (51 per cent) of the retailers questioned for the survey said November sales volumes were down on a year ago and only 17 per cent said they were up. The rounded balance of minus 35 per cent was far worse than the previous low of minus 24 per cent reported in September this year.
Retailers hope December will be slightly better, boosted by a belated spending rally by consumers in the run-up to Christmas.
But a record decline in sales is still expected compared with this time last year. Thirty-eight per cent of retailers expect sales to fall compared with a year ago and 15 per cent expect them to rise, a balance of minus 23 per cent.
Retailers placed significantly lower volumes of orders on suppliers, which has had a knock-on effect on other parts of the economy. November's CBI Industrial Trends Survey showed a deterioration of domestic demand had negated the benefits from improved export orders.
Expectations for orders to be placed upon suppliers during December are also considerably lower than a year ago.
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