Confidence in the U.K’s retail recovery strengthened last week when the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported comparable store sales increased 1.8 percent in August compared with August 2012, when they had declined 0.4 percent as shoppers were distracted by the London Olympics.
When including stores opened in the preceding year, sales grew 3.6 percent compared with a 1.6 percent increase in August 2012, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The report aligned with a bullish report from the Confederation of British Industry, which reported Aug. 28 that 125 retailers, wholesalers and distributors it surveyed between July 29 and Aug. 14 reported the strongest sales growth they had seen in 10 months. Retailers of recreational goods saw sales grow at their strongest pace since August 2011. Respondents told CBI the growth exceeded expectations, but that they expect it to continue in September.
“This was the second consecutive quarter of growth and was broad-based across a number of sectors, with clothing sales, grocers and recreational goods performing particularly well,” CBI reported.
BRC report also indicated growth was broad-based, with home categories performing best, while food was the slowest category due to the high bar set by the Olympics in August, 2012. Online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 15.0 percent in August, marking the best performance this year.
“Overall, these are very encouraging figures which maintain the sense that a consumer-led recovery is tentatively taking shape,” said Helen Dickinson, director general for the BRC. “Taken hand in hand with a recent uptick in consumer confidence, the signs are that many of us are feeling a little more positive about the economic outlook and responding well to good deals and new autumn collections alike.”
David McCorquodale, who heads up KPMG’s retail practice in the UK, said the solid performance by retailers demonstrates that confidence is slowly but surely returning to high streets. “Such a retail revival is particularly welcome after the disappointing sales seen last summer, when sales of non-food items ground to a halt as people were distracted by the Olympic Games,” he said.
