If you’ve already started your Christmas shopping this year, you might have noticed that the seasonal rush hasn’t yet hit your local shopping centre.
That’s because, according to latest figures, retail sales have fallen for the first time in three years.
Total October retail sales fell 0.1% in October whilst like-for-like sales, which remove the effect of new stores, fell by 2.2%.
The figures, which will be used as further indication that the UK is heading into a recession, represent the first fall in retail sales since 2005 – with an unusually early Easter holiday behind that particular drop.
Following the recent collapse in the housing market, furniture, home accessories and electrical goods were unsurprisingly amongst the worst performers whilst footwear and food and drink (which had fallen in the previous month) were the only two sectors to show any growth.
The figures, whilst making grim reading for retailers, could however mean a more cost-effective Christmas for consumers, with heavy discounting expected from many retailers in November and December which could see the traditional January sales period brought forward into December.
Already, fashion retailer Miss Sixty has been placed into administration whilst Oasis, Karen Millen and House of Fraser are all surrounded in uncertainty following the collapse of the Icelandic economy.
The trio, owned by Icelandic retail giant Baugur, looks set to be taken over by British retail guru Sir Phillip Green, who’s Arcadia Group currently owns Top Shop, Top Man, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Burton.
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