Women's swimwear, cosmetics & fragrances sales up in July

21 Aug '06

4 min read

Scottish Retail Consortium released the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor for July 2006. It reported that sun & tourists help July sales. Like-for-like sales in July were 2.8 percent higher than in July 2005, when sales had risen 3.4 percent. Although weaker than in the past three months, July's like-for-like sales growth was still above the monthly average for the first half of this year.

Cooling equipment and outdoor leisure also benefited, but clothing and footwear fell back as people were reluctant to shop in the heat. Scotland's performance in July was slightly weaker than that across the UK, which saw 3.4 percent like-for-like growth.

Fiona Moriarty, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “While July saw the poorest year-on-year growth in like-for-like sales since March, it was still well up on the first three months of the year and above the average for the year so far. Overall sales were boosted by the sunshine and tourist spending, overcoming the poor performance of some non-food items such as clothing and footwear.

Discounted summer clothes sold well but there was much less interest in 'indoor' goods like furniture and carpets. The very hot second half of July put many people off shopping altogether and undermined Scotland's usual July 'back-to-school' sales.

“With costs rising well above inflation and the recent increase in interest rates, Scottish retailers will be hoping August sees a return to the strong sales growth of the last three months rather than any further slowdown.”

Andrew McLaughlin, Group Chief Economist at The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, said: “The Scottish consumer continues to exude confidence with July's retail sales growing at a lively pace."

"Retailers' bottom lines may not have felt the full benefit, however, as slower growth in like-for-like sales indicates that consumer purchases have been spread a little more thinly across increased floor space. Given that higher energy prices are in the pipeline, and the recent interest rate rise is still to take effect, it remains to be seen whether or not consumers can maintain their current momentum.”

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