Retail sales fall over 12-month period
11 November 2008
Retail sales in Britain have fallen over the period of a year, for the first time in 36 months, it has been revealed.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG show that sales in October were 0.1 per cent lower than last year, which is the first time that monthly sales fell from twelve months previously since 2005.
The consortium reports that as has been the case in previous months, food and drink showed sales "significantly up" on last year.
Sales of clothing and footwear were disappointing and were often discount driven, the report shows.
This new information shows a more cautious British shopper, with the BRC report showing that people now only buy if they feel that the purchases "filled a need".
Online shopping took a hit as well as the high street, with sales on the internet down in the days following the banking crisis.
Head of retail at KPMG, Helen Dickinson, told the BBC that retailers will turn to "heavy discounting to bolster sales" in the coming weeks, with BBC Director General Stephen Robertson commenting that the figures were "seriously poor".
