High street sales figures were down in December despite the festive season official figures show. We answer five questions on the latest high street sales figures.
How much are December sales figures down by?
Newly released seasonally adjusted sales figures for December show a fall of 0.1 per cent compared to the month before, figures from the Office of National Statistics show.
Compared to a year earlier the quantity of goods sold rose by 0.3%, which is worse than expected.
With the exception of 2010 this is slowest year-on-year growth in December sales since 1998.
Which sectors of the industry are down the most?
Clothes and food sales are down most notably. Household goods were down 3 per cent, the biggest decline since January 2010.
Food sales fell by 0.3 per cent from the month before and fashion sales dropped by 3.5 per cent.
Which sectors rose?
Unsurprisingly, online shopping. About 10.6 per cent of December sales were carried out online, up from 9.4 percent the year before. Overall, total online sales were up 15.5% from a year earlier.
The data tallies with figures from research firm Experian that suggested the number of visits to retail websites rose 86% on Christmas Eve, 71% on Christmas Day and 17% on Boxing Day compared with a year earlier, due to many online stores beginning their online sales before Christmas.
What are the experts saying?
“With many household budgets still feeling the squeeze and no signs of economic challenges receding any time soon, this led to a respectable rather than spectacular result during the most crucial trading period of the year,“ Helen Dickinson, director of the British Retail Consortium, told The Telegraph.
“As with our own figures, the internet was the standout performer – our own figures would have shown subzero growth in non-food sales if it hadn’t been for online’s significant year on year rise.
“Even food, usually dependable at this time of year, showed a slowdown in growth.This suggests that relentlessly tough times led many to ‘trade down’ to cheaper and own-label brands, but also that many economised so that they had more money to spend treating family and friends with nice presents.”
What is the potential long term effect?
The figures indicate that another recession could be heading Britain’s way. If the economy contracts during the current quarter it would mean the country could experience a third recession in a row.
It also means that more money creation by the Bank of England could occur. The bank could also change its inflation target to allow for higher prices rises, all of which could weaken the pound.