Shop Price Index
Festive discounting unwinds
Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive, British Retail Consortium:
Retail prices rose in January as discounting slowed and retailers continued to face high input costs. Ambient food inflation accelerated the most as wholesale and bulk prices grew, particularly for sugar and alcohol. Fresh food prices also remained high due to increased food production costs as well as elevated wholesale fruit and vegetable prices. Meanwhile, clothing and footwear prices eased, so customers were able to replenish their wardrobes with some bargains during the January sales.
With global food costs coming down from their 2022 high and the cost of oil falling, we expect to see some inflationary pressures easing. However, as retailers still face ongoing headwinds from rising energy bills and labour shortages, prices are yet to peak and will likely remain high in the near term as a result.
Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, NielsenIQ:
Shoppers are indicating that they need to economise on spending in 2023 and with retail sales after Christmas off to a slow start, food retailers in particular continue to offer savings on everyday items to help their shoppers budget as household bills keep rising. But until inflation starts to slow it’s unlikely that people will feel better about their personal finances or be willing to spend more and it will be a few more months before any fall in global commodity or supply chain costs work through to shop prices.
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