First half of 2023 expected to be “challenging” for retailers and consumers
The British Retail Consortium has said the first half of 2023 is likely to be challenging for both consumers and retailers with retail sales growth of 1% to 2.3%.
However, it expects sales to pick up in the second half of the year with growth of 3.6% to 4.7% as inflation slows and consumer confidence improves.
The BRC said food sales growth will continue to outperform non-food categories, although it is predicted to fall slightly in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, non-food sales will move from decline to growth.
Across the year as a whole, the organisation expects retail sales to increase by between 2.3% and 3.5%.
Kris Hamer, director of insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “The first half of the year is likely to challenging for households and retailers.
“Ongoing inflation will make sales appear to be rising, but we expect falling volumes as consumers continue to manage their spending.
“We also don’t see many signs at this stage of retailers’ input costs easing, with energy costs expected to rise by £7.5 billion as the government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme comes to an end in March, putting ongoing upwards pressure on prices.
“There is cause for optimism in the second half of 2023, when we expect inflation to ease and improving consumer confidence to result in an improvement to sales growth, and corresponding volumes.”
