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NEWS STORY
OFFICIAL FIGURES CONFIRM RETAIL GLOOM
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| January 23, 2009 |
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As the UK officially enters recession, retail sales figures today (Friday), confirm how tough December was for many retailers, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show the total value of sales fell 0.8 per cent compared with December 2007. That compares with a fall of 1.4 per cent recorded by the BRC's Retail Sales Monitor published last week.
After several months of unexpectedly strong official retail sales figures, a sharp drop from November's positive year-on-year growth means the ONS figures are now painting a similarly gloomy picture to the BRC's own results.
The ONS report also confirms non-food retailers suffering most with sales largely driven by price cutting, food retailing proving more resilient and online sales boosted by Christmas.
Stephen Robertson, Director General of the British Retail Consortium, said:
"The official figures are now painting a more realistic picture of how tough conditions are for customers and retailers.
"A poor Christmas for retailing overall hides the contrast between sectors. A triple whammy of dramatically declining sales, margin-crushing discounts and rising costs hit non-food retailers hardest overwhelming some businesses and destroying retail jobs. Food sales were more resilient – we all have to eat.
"Our own results show most people believe we have been in recession for months and have been behaving as if we were for some time. With customers already budgeting defensively as job fears mount, confirmation of recession can't weaken confidence much more."
Media calls
BRC Press Office 0207 854 8924/20 07921 605544
Notes to Editors
The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor (RSM) is produced from around 70 participants from across the UK retail industry who are members of the BRC. Sales values across a range of 12 product categories are provided weekly to KPMG who then aggregate them into annual growth rates for each month on a total and like-for-like basis. These growth rates are then weighted according to ONS Family Spending data to produce the headline growth rates. These headline growth rates are published in the second week after the month reported on. In addition, all participants, in the survey receive weekly analysis of sales split into the product categories as a tool for gauging their own performance in relation to their sector, and the industry as a whole.
The like-for-like measure is often used by retailers, the city and analysts to assess the performance of individual companies, retail sectors and the industry overall, without the distorting effect of changes in floorspace.
The total sales measure is used to assess market level trends in retail sales. It is a guide to the growth of the whole retail industry, or how much consumers in total are spending in retail – retail spending represents approximately one-third of consumer spending. It is this measure that is often used by economists.
The ONS Retail Sales Index (RSI) measures monthly movements in the average weekly sales of British retailers. The monthly survey of 5,000 collects the total retail turnover from each business selected. Responses are mandatory in accordance with Government legislation. Retail turnover is the total value of sales of goods to the general public for personal or household use. It includes sales via the internet and other forms of mail order.
The ONS' monthly Retail Sales First Release concentrates on seasonally adjusted volumes of retail sales, i.e. after the effects of price changes and regular seasonal factors have been removed. An unadjusted RSI for the value of sales is also included in the First Release. In addition, a monthly compendium is published which contains detailed series by type and size of retailer.
The latest BRC Retail Sales Monitor is available to journalists from the BRC Press Office
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