Online steals the black friday show says BRC
Published: 5 December 2017 - Kiran Grewal
In November, UK retail sales increased by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis from November 2016, when they had increased 0.6% from the preceding year.
On a total basis, sales rose 1.5% in November, against a growth of 1.3% in November 2016. This is in line with the 3-month and 12-month averages of 1.4% and 1.5% respectively.
Over the three months to November 2017, In-store sales of Non-Food items declined 3.0% on a Total basis and 3.7% on a Like-for-like basis. On a 12-month basis, the total decline was 2.2%, the deepest since our records began in January 2012.
Over the three-months to November, Non-Food retail sales in the UK decreased 1.2% on a like-for-like basis and 0.6% on a total basis, below the 12-month Total average growth of 0.0%. This is the lowest 3-month average Total Non-Food growth since May 2011, excluding Easter distortions.
Online sales of Non-Food products grew 6.5% in November, below both the 3-month and 12-month averages of 7.3% and 8.0% respectively. Online penetration rate increased from 26.3% in October 2016 to 27.4% in October 2017, the highest on record.
Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium Helen Dickinson OBE commented: “November brought relief as growth in retail sales perked up after last month’s dip. Black Friday, the big retail event of the month, failed to fundamentally shift underlying trends in spending. Food sales were responsible for pretty much all the growth this month as higher prices continue to absorb more of the weekly shopping budget. Non-food sales - the focus of Black Friday –fell, as the squeeze on household incomes continues to impact discretionary spend."
Head of Retail at KPMG, Paul Martin, said: “Retailers will be wondering whether the juice is worth the squeeze, with Black Friday sales resulting in a meagre 0.6 per cent uptick in like-for-like growth, when compared to November last year. In what has been a difficult year for the industry, any growth is most welcome, but profitability is what remains paramount.
“Despite Cyber Monday falling outside November’s figures, sales growth was clearly more prominent online, with non-food online sales up 6.4 per cent on last year and penetration rates as high as 27.4 per cent. After previous in-store stampedes, it is clear that retailers are increasingly moving Black Friday away from the high street.