New figures: November a slow month for retail
UK retail sales dropped by 0.4% on a like-for-like basis in November from the same month last year. On a total basis sales were up 0.7%.
According to the figures released by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG in their monthly shop price monitor, total growth was below the three-month average of 2% and the 12-month average of 1.7%.
While half of the monitor’s categories showed year-on-year growth on a total basis, when online sales were excluded only the furniture and home accessories categories showed growth in stores.
Total food sales edged up 0.1% over the three months to November and by 0.3% over the twelve month period, but declined for the month. On a three-month basis, total non-food sales were up 3.5%, ahead of their twelve-month average of 2.9%.
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, explained: “November was quite a slow month overall for retail. Furniture and the home categories were the main drivers of growth for the month, with large and small electrical appliances doing particularly well, driven by Black Friday sales.
“Black Friday had an undoubtedly significant impact for the non-food categories, disturbing the build-up to Christmas: traditionally, sales in the last week of November were 25% larger than in the first week of the month. Last year already, those sales were inflated by the popularity of Black Friday deals and this year, they were 50% larger than in the first week of November.
“As consumers and retailers continue to adapt to the changing patterns of omni-channel shopping, where the lines between channels become less and less relevant, this build-up to Christmas is one of the hardest to read in years. The conversion of people’s higher disposable income into retail sales shouldn’t be taken for granted.”
The BRC’s figures also show that online sales of non-food products in the UK increased by 11.8% in November versus a year earlier when they had grown by 12%. The non-food online penetration rate was 22.4%, up 2.1 percentage points from November 2014 and the highest on record.
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: “As some retailers sought to play down the stampede of Black Friday and put fighting in the aisles behind them, the consumer too shied away from the High Street to click into Christmas from the phone or tablet. This year’s was certainly an online Black Friday, which drove penetration levels to an all-time high of 22.4%.
“Retailers will delight in systems that were able to withstand the peak demand but will yet have to count the cost of meeting delivery deadlines and handling returns next month before they know if this has been a profitable venture or a giveaway gesture.”
