Retail sales slump after discount driven blip

Januarys surprise year on year retail sales rise were a discount driven blip according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which released figures that show a February slump this morning (March 10).

January’s “surprise” year on year retail sales rise were a “discount driven blip” according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which released figures that show a February slump this morning (March 10).

Retail sales overall fell by 1.8% compared to last February. Non-food sales fell 5.3% overall on a like-for-like basis, with every non-food sector losing sales apart from children’s clothes. So-called “big-ticket” items and homeware goods were particularly hard hit.

Food and drink showed slower growth despite increasing sales, which were boosted by snow-induced stockpiling and Valentine at-home diners.

KPMG head of retail Helen Dickinson predicts more retail sector job losses and cost-cutting measures are likely in the short-term.

However, some analysts have delivered a more upbeat assessment of the figures. Numis retail analyst Nick Coulter says: “Notwithstanding snow and a late Mothers Day….. February was not as bad as we feared or as weak as portrayed by the BRC commentary, in our opinion.”

He adds that although non-food fell, it didn’t “plumb the depths of 7.4%-7.9% seen at the end of last year”.

Recommended

Emu Australia recruits VF Corp MD

Marketing Week

Emu Australia, the sheepskin footwear company, has named Andy Knowles as CEO Europe with a remit to oversee all European marketing from the brand. Knowles was most recently VF Jeanswear managing director where he oversaw the Lee and Wrangler brands. He has also held senior positions at Nestlé and Cadbury Schweppes. Emu Australia entered the […]

TMG hires Absolute Radios Hewat

Marketing Week

Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has appointed Absolute Radio commercial director Nick Hewat to the position of sales director. Hewat (pictured), who will report to TMG executive director Dave King, will replace Mathew Watkins who is to take up a new role as director of advertising strategy at the publisher. Watkins will now work on analysis […]

Sky and Tiscali end sale talks

Marketing Week

Talks over a deal for Sky to buy ISP Tiscali have broken down due to the adverse market conditions. Tiscali, which has 1.8m subscribers, has now asked banks to suspend its E11m (£9.9m) interest rate repayments on its E500m (£450m) debt. The ISP said the economic climate made the deal “almost impossible”. Discussions between the […]