The UK retail sector has suffered its worst June on record due to Brexit uncertainty and tough comparatives with the same period last year which was boosted by hot weather and the FIFA World Cup.
The data from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed that total sales slipped 1.3% in June, against an increase of 2.3% in 2018. The decline dragged the three-month average into a decline of 0.1% and the 12-month average to an increase of just 0.6%, the lowest since the BRC’s records began in December 1995.
On a like-for-like basis, retail sales fell 1.6% year-on-year as poor weather impacted sales of garden furniture and barbecues, and consumers bought less food & drink compared last year when the supermarkets benefitted from England’s run to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Online sales continued to grow, rising 4% in June. However, this was significantly lower than the 8.5% increase recorded last year.
Over the three months to June, in-store sales of non-food items declined 4.1% on a like-for-like basis, whilst food sales increased 1.5%.
As well as blaming the weather, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of British Retail Consortium, said: “Overall, the picture is bleak: rising real wages have failed to translate into higher spending as ongoing Brexit uncertainty led consumers to put off non-essential purchases.”
She added: “The continued risk of a No Deal Brexit is harming consumer confidence and forcing retailers to spend hundreds of millions of pounds putting in place mitigations – this represents time and resources that would be better spent improving customer experience and prices. It is vital that the next Prime Minister can find a solution that avoids a No Deal Brexit on 31st October, just before the busy Black Friday and Christmas periods.”
NAM Implications:
- Whatever the cause, the key issue has to be how your results compared with these averages…
- …obviously revealing opportunities to amplify the good…
- …and do what you can to mitigate any downsides.
- Otherwise pray for a decisive end to the Brexit issue…
