BRC reports modest sales uplift
Published: 13 October, 2010
UK retail sales values in September 2010 were up 0.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis from September 2009. On a total basis, sales were up 2.2 per cent.
According to the Retail Sales Monitor from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, food sales growth picked up a little. Clothing slowed but footwear sales improved,
helped by cold wet weather and new autumn/winter ranges. Furniture and
floorcoverings was the only sector where sales were actually down on a year ago.
Larger purchases in particular were affected by consumer uncertainty over job cuts
and income prospects.
Non-food non-store sales (internet, mail-order and phone sales) strengthened further
in September and were 19.1 per cent higher than a year ago, the best since May, but
amid increased promotional activity.
Stephen Robertson, director general at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Sales
growth continues to be poor. We've now had six straight months of low growth
thanks to persistently weak consumer confidence and worries about the future.
"What growth there was largely came from food with the performance helped by food
inflation.
"Overall, non-food sales were down on a year ago for the first time since mid 2009.
With VAT higher than it was last year, and pushing up sales values, it's an even
worse performance than it looks. There is little evidence yet of major purchases being
brought forward from 2011 to beat the coming VAT increase
"Despite widespread discounting, sales of major items had the toughest time. It's clear
people are cautious and major spending is largely on hold.
Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, said: The value of food sales crept up
slightly as the impact of inflationary pressures continued to filter through. Non-
food sales as a whole remained sluggish overall with like-for-like sales dipping into
negative territory in September. But this is with significant variation in performance
across individual sectors footwear maintained the top spot in growth terms
while furniture and floorcoverings was firmly entrenched once again as the worst
performing sector, mirroring the recent news of house price falls. We hold our
breath as to whether the upcoming Public Spending Review will derail current retail
spending further confidence is fragile."
