Weather & cautious shoppers mar Oct clothing & footwear retail sales says BRC

08 Nov '05

3 min read

Leading retail trade association The British Retail Consortium (BRC) announced the Retail Sales Monitor RSM for October 2005.

Retail sales in the UK in October fell 0.2 percent on a like-for-like basis from October 2004 when sales had grown only 0.5 percent. Like-for-like growth has now been in negative territory for eight of the ten months so far this year.

The three-month trend rate of growth improved slightly in October to -0.7 percent from -1.4 percent in September for like-for-like sales, and to 3.2 percent from 2.9 percent for total sales.

Shoppers are still cautious and with the many promotions and discounts available on the high street, are increasingly prepared to wait for bargains and good deals before they purchase.

Clothing and footwear showed larger declines than in September due to the unseasonably mild weather. However, food sales improved.

Sales of big-ticket items continued to be depressed. Smaller items and essentials were often preferred to discretionary items in homeware and leisure.

Kevin Hawkins, Director General, BRC comments that another slight improvement in like-for-like sales is very welcome, especially considering the downward trend during the first half of this year. However, they are still just in negative territory and figures are also against a weak comparative in October 2004.

Many stores are relying on discounts and promotions to attract value- conscious consumers and unusually mild weather hasn't helped clothing retailers carrying winter lines. Hopefully the next crucial weeks leading up to Christmas will bring stronger growth.

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