All they want for Christmas is… sales

UK retailers fear that Christmas shoppers are leaving it late

Data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG gives a bleak midwinter picture – sales are up just 0.4% compared to last year… and considering 2011 saw a drop in spending, retailers are getting increasingly nervous.

Shoppers are being cautious, and adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude, in the hope that they will be able to grab a last minute bargain, but this is a concern for the British High Street. It’s this time of year that they can really make a profit, and for many it’s the test of whether they’ll be able to continue to trade for another year…

Surprisingly too, according to Stephen Robertson, director-general of the BRC, “The same caution {has} hit online sales, which delivered their third worst performance of the year.”

Which is a revelation considering how much of a key part online shopping has become.
Bizarrely enough though, sales of onesies – the strange phenomenon that seems to be sweeping the nation – are helping to boost clothing sales, and more conventionally the popularity of tablets, like the ipad, are keeping the technology market afloat.

Retailers are hoping that December sees the public come out and spend, although it won’t be a surprise if the busiest time is the weekend right before the big day.

Let’s just hope Father Christmas hasn’t left it this late…

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