Member Article

Third month of retail sales growth

Retailers have witnessed a third month of rising year on year sales in July, although growth has slowed more than had previously been anticipated.

According to the CBI Distributive Trades Survey, 44% of retailers found that their sales volumes were higher than the same period a year ago, while 33% reported a decline, resulting in a balance of 11%. This was lower than the anticipated 32%.

Next month retailers expect that sales and orders growth would moderate further, with both expected to be flat on a year ago.

Many retail sub-sectors saw an increase in year-on-year sales growth, notably furniture and carpets, clothing, footwear and leather, and grocers. But reflecting the headline trend, all of these sectors saw sales growth slow compared to last month.

Judith McKenna, Chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Panel and Asda Chief Operating Officer, said: “Retailers reported an annual rise in sales and orders for the third month in a row, but the increase was far slower than firms had anticipated.

“The unprecedented poor weather for the time of year did not help, but retailers also expect conditions to remain tough during August. With consumer confidence weak and wage growth remaining sluggish, the longer term outlook for retailers remains challenging.”

Only 18% of wholesalers reported a rise in the volume of sales, while 30% saw a fall. The resulting balance of -12% was the first fall in sales since November 2011.

Motor traders’ sales volumes were broadly flat in the year to July at -1%, significantly below growth expectations of 38%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .