Retail sales slow in October
UK retail sales edged down 0.2% on a like-for-like basis in October from the same month last year. On a total basis sales were up 0.9%.
According to the figures released by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG in their monthly shop price index, the total growth was below the three month average of 1.8% and the 12-month average of 1.9%.
Retailers reported that the timing of Halloween on a Saturday had a negative impact on shopping that day, while categories popular on Black Friday registered some slowdown in October.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “A number of categories which we’d typically expect to be popular on Black Friday saw a slowdown in October, suggesting that some shoppers may be holding out in the hope of some great deals at the end of November.”
On a three-month basis, total non-food sales were up 2.9%, almost in line with their twelve-month average of 3.1%.
Dickinson added: “Furniture had a good month however, likely boosted by higher disposable incomes. Clothing also did well last month, driven by mid-season sales; however this may be to the detriment of retailers’ profit margins.”
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: “October certainly looks to have slowed on the high-street, with many retailers probably feeling more tricked than treated as sales were relatively flat overall.”
Total food sales grew 0.5% over the three months to October, and 0.3% over the twelve months, which was the category’s best performance since July 2014.
Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said: “Our research shows only one in ten shoppers expect food prices to fall again in the coming year. This cautious mood helps explain why the combination of rising incomes and falling prices has triggered only a modest amount of trading up on food and drink so far. However, this could change as we enter the crucial Christmas trading phase.”
Meanwhile, online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 9.2% in October versus a year earlier, when they had grown 15.4%. The non-food online penetration rate was 19.1%, up from 18.4% in October 2014.
