Shop price inflation falls marginally in September
Shop price inflation dropped slightly in September as food prices held steady and retailers cut prices of non-food items such furniture and clothing to generate sales.
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen showed that overall shop price inflation fell to 1% in the month from 1.1% in August. Food inflation was unchanged at 3.1% for the third month in a row while deflation in non-food increased to 0.2% from 0.1% in August.
Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, explained: “Food inflation remains at a two-year low for the third month running despite inflationary pressures building up in the supply chain from rises in global commodities such as wheat and soyabeans.
“These shop price figures show retailers are holding back much of the impact as they battle it out for every bit of spending available from hard-up customers. Promotions, including multi-buy offers, fuel coupons and price matching are commonplace and helping to keep grocery bills down while non-food prices have now been cheaper than a year ago for eight months in a row as prices of furniture, electricals and clothing are cut to generate sales.”
Mike Watkins, senior manager for retailer services at Nielsen said: “Over the last month, we have seen some welcome stability in food retailing and sales growths have improved a little compared with the early summer. Retailers have maintained the high levels of promotional activity at 35% of sales and food inflation remains at a two-year low point at just over 3%. This will be helping shoppers to plan with more confidence when juggling their household budgets.”
