October retail sales boosted by heavy discounting - BRC
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 05 Nov 2019
(Sharecast News) - UK retail sales ticked higher in October, boosted by heavy discounting, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG on Tuesday.
Total sales were up 0.6% last month, down from a 1.3% increase in October 2018 but marking the best performance since April 2019 and coming in above the three-month average decline of 0.3% and the 12-month average growth of 0.1%.
On a like-for-like basis, retail sales were up 0.1% from October 2018, which was above the three-month average of a 0.8% decline.
Over the three-months to October, in-store sales of non-food items fell 3.6% on a total basis and 3.7% on a LFL basis, marking the shallowest drop since July. Meanwhile, food sales over the three-month period were up 0.5% on a LFL basis and 1.6% on a total basis. This was in line with the 12-month total average growth of 1.6%.
Chief executive Helen Dickinson said: "Retailers embarked on an extraordinary period of discounting this October as they tried to entice shoppers into making purchases. Fashion shops were particularly active, helping non-food return to growth for the first time since July. Unfortunately, the longer term trend remains bleak with the 12-month average sales growth falling to a new low of just 0.1%. With Brexit still unresolved and a December election creating new uncertainties, retailers will be looking nervously at the months ahead.
"Nonetheless, the General Election offers politicians of all parties an opportunity to protect local retail jobs, local shopping locations and the local communities they support. MPs should build on the recent Treasury Select Committee Report and commit to reforming the broken business rates system. The first step would be to scrap the so-called downwards transition, which takes £1.3bn from retailers and redistributes most of it to other industries."
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