New figures: high street sales hit seven year low
New figures have shown that August was the worst month for the high street since the beginning of the global financial crisis.
BDO’s monthly High Street Sales Tracker recorded a 4.3% drop in year-on-year sales for August – the biggest fall since November 2008.
All sectors suffered, with sales of fashion down 5.5%, homewares down 3.3% and lifestyle goods down 1.3% year-on-year in the month.
BDO said it had also recorded a sharp decline in online sales. While non-store sales were up 11.4% year-on-year, the like-for-like growth was the lowest ever recorded by BDO’s HSST index.
Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said the high street was losing out as UK consumers opted to spend their disposable income on leisure pursuits, eating out and holidays although there were glimmers of light at the end of a particularly gloomy summer.
She added: “The last week of August was cold and wet enough to make people think about autumn, so fashion retailers saw an uplift in sales in that final week that this summer’s fragmented discounting has so far failed to deliver.
“With the holiday season over and the summer weather starting to fade, retailers will be hoping this is the start of a shopping spree that sees them into the Autumn season and beyond. Retailers likely to benefit in the coming months are those with the right product, at the right price with aligned multi channels.”
