After a difficult 18
After a difficult 18 months on the high street, British
retailers are reporting signs of recovery – just in time for their
key sales period between Black
Friday[1] and Christmas.
An improvement in consumer confidence is “easing some
economists’ concerns about the spending recovery”, the Financial
Times[2] reported, “despite
a sharp increase in inflation[3]
over the past few months”.
The Consumer Confidence Index – a measure of the balance
between economic optimism and pessimism among the British public –
increased by three points this month, from minus 17 to minus 14.
Analysts had expected it to fall by a point.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at data analysts GfK, which
compiles the index, said the mood is finely balanced.
“Headline consumer sentiment has ticked upwards this month
despite decade-high inflation,” he said. “Is this a sign that
shoppers are ready to bounce back, after last year’s cancelled
family gatherings, with a Christmas splurge in coming weeks? That’s
how it looks, but consumers also know that when the festivities are
over it’s going to be a tough year in 2022.”
Retail sales figures released today showed a 0.8% rise in sales
volumes last month, after “the longest spending slump since
1996”, The Guardian[4] reported. No growth had
been recorded in the previous five months.
Toy shops and sporting goods retailer were among the companies
benefiting from “a scramble to avoid disappointment amid the global
supply
chain disruption[5]“, the paper added.
High-street stalwarts Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have both said
customers are starting this year’s Christmas shopping early.
They are also expected to splash out on Black Friday, the
pre-Christmas sales event which falls on 26 November. “There
has been a resurgence in the number of people looking to
participate in the event,” said PricewaterhouseCoopers[6], which predicts sales
of £9bn. It found that 59% of respondents to its survey said
that they plan to make a Black Friday purchase, up from 51% in
2019 and just 38% last year.
References
- ^
Black Friday
(www.theweek.co.uk) - ^
the
Financial Times (www.ft.com) - ^
inflation
(www.theweek.co.uk) - ^
The
Guardian (www.theguardian.com) - ^
supply chain disruption
(www.theweek.co.uk) - ^
PricewaterhouseCoopers
(www.pwc.co.uk)
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