High Street enjoyed modest gains last week
Sales figures from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker for the week ending 11 October revealed that total sales were up 1.9 per cent.
Overall, takings increased by 1.9%, with non-fashion in particular enjoying another excellent week.
Non-fashion: +5.8 Another strong week was reported by the majority of non-fashion stores driven by solid demand for luxury and gifting. The only real negative area was health and beauty, where demand lagged.
Fashion: +1.4% Although sales strengthened back into positive territory, overall gains were modest. Colder weather, which encouraged purchases of winter clothing, boosted sales in some areas, while stores also benefited from good new stock availability. However, consistent gains were not witnessed across the board.
Homewares: -3.7% Sales remained negative for a second week in a row held back by poor demand for furniture and lighting. In other areas sales were stronger, with solid demand for home accessories and cookware.
Non-Store: +33.1% Non-store sales softened this week, with takings growing at their slowest rate since mid July. Adverse publicity linked to the postal strike was probably the main cause of this reduced growth.
Don Williams, Head of Retail at BDO LLP says: “Trading conditions showed some positive signs of progression this week, with sales improving week-on-week across all three sectors. Overall, takings increased by 1.9%, with non-fashion having a stellar week. In other areas gains were more modest, despite the weak comparisons, indicating that trading conditions remain far from easy. Fashion rose modestly, despite benefiting from the colder weather, while homewares remained negative.
However, with very weak comparisons between now and Christmas, we expect sales to remain positive for the majority of stores in the coming weeks.”
Sales held up relatively well this week last year given the torrent of bad financial news and unprecedented stock market turmoil that took place. Although shoppers were understandably cautious, discounting and clever promotions helped non-fashion sales grow (+3.7%). In other areas, fashion (-4.1%) weakened, while homewares (-10%) dropped steeply.
