Retail sales in January grew at strongest rate since March 2010
UK retail sales grew at their strongest rate since March 2010 in January boosted by strong performances in furniture and other non-food items.
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG show that sales increased by 3.9% on a like-for-like basis from January 2013 while total sales grew by 5.4% to record the best growth in almost four years.
Furniture was the top performing category, with sales growing at their fastest rate since April 2006, as the recovery in house prices boosted trade.
BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: “Our figures for January show strong growth but a story of two halves. With a record number of people now in work and the continued recovery in the housing market we have seen very strong performances in furniture and other non-food items.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“These figures are better than expected given the continued squeeze on personal finances but official figures show that this is not built on personal debt which remains below pre-recession levels.”
The BRC said shoppers had responded well to a range of sales and promotions offered by retailers on non-food items in the month. In addition, retailers experienced strong demand across new ranges as consumer confidence improved.
However, food sales were disappointing after achieving very low levels of growth in the last quarter.
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: “Other than the grocers, retailers will feel heartened by these post-Christmas figures. The divide between food and non-food is stark, with the battle for market share in food remaining ferocious, customer loyalty fickle and cost deflation being passed through to the consumer.”
The BRC figures show that online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 19.2% in January versus a year earlier, to achieve the strongest January growth since 2009. In January, online sales represented 17.4% of total non-food sales recorded in the monitor compared to 16.3% in the same month last year.
Dickinson said: “Embracing omni-channel sales has been a big driver of business for UK retailers. We’ve seen an ever-more discerning customer taking good advantage of click and collect and other innovative services. The combination of an online presence with a bricks and mortar offering is becoming increasingly compelling.”
