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Worst fears of negative growth in retail sales come true

11 Nov '08
5 min read

Growth in non-food non-store sales is still outpacing that in store sales but this expansion is from a very low base. In fact non-food non-store sales account for only about 4% of total retail sales.

Shoppers increasingly used the internet and catalogues to research purchases before buying, in order to take advantage of widespread and heavy discounting, particularly for major purchases.

Some noted non-food non-store sales falling off markedly when the banking crisis hit consumer confidence. In contrast, the wet weather helped to boost internet sales as people preferred to stay at home: this was especially evident on the very rainy last Saturday of the October trading period.

*Non-Food Non-Store sales are transactions which take place over the internet, or via mail order or via telesales.

Sectorwise perfomance:

Clothing:
The year-on-year decline in sales was only marginally smaller
than in September. Sales have now been lower than a year ago
for 11 of the past 12 months; May's early sun drove the only
gain achieved during the past year. Discounts and promotions
continued but often failed to tempt customers unless they
perceived value or it filled a need.

Childrenswear seen more as an essential than adults' wear and helped by half-term holidays - showed a minimal gain. Core essentials, accessories and cheaper items often sold better than the more expensive items such as coats, suits and dresses. Hats, scarves and gloves were popular buys in the cold spell and knitwear and coats also benefited.

Footwear:
Overall sales were only slightly better than in September. The
improvement was led by a small gain in women's footwear as it
benefited from continued discounts and promotions as well as
the cold weather which gave an uplift to boots, winter shoes and slippers.

Children's footwear slowed though still showed some growth on a year ago as it took priority in parents' budgets over their own footwear. As in September, men's footwear was little changed from a year ago. The squeeze on discretionary spending continued to favour value ranges. Designer ranges gave gains for some.

British Retail Consortium

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