Member Article

Sales in retail sector remain steady

Retailers have seen little change in sales volumes in the first half of February, compared to last year.

The CBI’s latest quarterly distributive trades survey, conducted over the first two weeks of February, revealed that 34% of retailers reported an increase in sales in the year to February, and 36% had seen a reduction.

Grocers reported significant increases in their volume of sales (+55%), and non-store retailers, including online and mail order, recorded +71%.

Wholesalers beat expectations on increased volume of sales and the volume of orders placed upon suppliers.

Other sectors saw weaker performance, such as clothing retailers reported -41%, the lowest figure since March 2009, and household goods along with hardware and DIY fared poorly at -100% and -90% respectively.

In the motor trades, sales volumes fell in the year to February, as sales of new and used vehicles still falling rapidly at -44%.

Judith McKenna, Chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Panel and ASDA Chief Operating Officer, said: “It’s good to see there are more positive signs on our high streets.

“But consumers are clearly continuing to focus their spending on day-to-day needs, rather than big ticket or luxury items.

“With disposable incomes under constant pressure, retailers remain concerned about the general business outlook for the rest of 2012.”

Price inflation in shops is down from its peak a year ago, with a balance of +49%, despite remaining above the long-run average.

Looking ahead to next month, retailers expect the volume of sales to remain flat, while hope for the next three months remained poor, and investment intentions for the year ahead are at their lowest since February 2009.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .