Retail

UK's Black Friday boost short-lived, November sales falter: BRC

05 Dec '23

2 min read

Pic: Adobe Stock

Insights

UK's Black Friday's early start failed to sustain sales momentum in November 2023, with only a 2.7 per cent increase despite promotions.
The country's online sales dipped but saw higher penetration.
Retailers hope for a surge in December 2023 amidst rising costs and a looming cost-of-living crisis affecting consumer spending and resilience.

UK’s Black Friday began earlier this year as many retailers tried to give sales a much-needed boost in November. While this had the desired effect initially, the momentum failed to hold throughout the month, as many households held back on Christmas spending, according to the Retail Sales Monitor report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG.

Sales growth in November remained weak at 2.7 per cent, despite a big push from retailers around Black Friday deals. Online sales fell yet again, but penetration rates rose by 5 per cent on October to 41.5 per cent as consumers shopped around for Black Friday bargains.

Non-food sales were down overall year on year. November had the highest proportion of non-food goods purchased online for 2023, though this remains below the previous years’ level.

“Retailers are banking on a last-minute flurry of festive frivolity in December and will continue working hard to deliver an affordable Christmas for customers so everyone can enjoy some Christmas cheer. Looking ahead to 2024, retailers will have to shoulder many new cost pressures, including a rise to business rates, as well as costs from other new regulations. These combined with the biggest rise on record to the National Living Wage will mean retailers will have less capital to invest in lowering prices for their customers,” said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, BRC.

Paul Martin, UK head of retail, KPMG, said: “With less than a month to go and sales growth limping along, the cost-of-living crisis has taken its toll on Christmas spending for many households, and the continued economic conditions are testing consumer resilience. Price remains the main purchasing driver, so we are likely to see a prolonged and well targeted period of discounting as retailers compete hard for a shrinking pool of spend and will need to clear stock.

“With two of the three months of the crucial golden quarter seeing sales growth below 3 per cent, it has already been a weak Christmas trading period. Any excess stock not sold before Christmas could be further reduced leading to big January sales, and potentially having an even greater impact on already tight margins. As we look to the first few months of 2024, we can expect the challenges to continue which could lead to further casualties in the sector, particularly pure online players facing more than 28 months of consecutive sales decline.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)

More British Retail Consortium News... More Retail News - United Kingdom...