Period covered: August 19Published: September 03, 2019Read time: 1min

Retail Sales Monitor

Aug 19: UK Retail Sales Monitor

August Sales Flatline

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive, BRC: 

“Retail sales flatlined in August with the 12-month average dropping to a new low of just 0.4%. Greater economic and political uncertainty has driven down consumer demand. While the summer weather gave a small boost to food sales, this was cancelled out by a drop in non-food sales.

“Summer discounting and poor footfall have hit in-store sales particularly hard. If the Government wants to avoid seeing further store closures and job losses on the UK high street, they must take action. Last month, fifty retail CEOs wrote to the Chancellor demanding he fix the broken business rates system, allowing businesses to fund vital investment during this unprecedented period of transformation.”

Paul Martin, UK Retail Partner, KPMG: 

“August proved to be yet another incredibly disappointing month for retail, with like-for-like sales down 0.5% and total sales flat-lining at zero. It’s clear that for much of the retail market, efforts are being focussed on preservation, not growth, in this adverse and uncertain climate.

“The rhythm of the back-to-school promotions did provide some reprieve, bolstering sales of children’s fashion and footwear. This also appeared to benefit fashion sales more broadly. As has been the case for some time now, online sales outperformed the high street, but with growth as low as 2.2%, it’s clear that even this channel has slowed down drastically.

“With a budgetary Spending Review, the Brexit crunch point looming and potentially a general election on the cards, it’s clear that the only thing that is certain in the coming months is further uncertainty. It’s vital that retailers insulate themselves for every eventuality and have rigorous contingency plans in place.”

Food & Drink sector performance, Susan Barratt, CEO, IGD: 

“Food and grocery sales moved back into positive territory in August with year on year growth, thanks considerably to the approaching Bank Holiday heatwave. As August progressed, the October Brexit deadline received increasing attention but only 3 per cent of shoppers say they’ve begun to build stocks for this purpose: not enough to show through in the total sector sales.”