Christmas boosts December sales

Total UK sales increased by 1.7 percent, up from a 1 percent increase in December 2015, according to the monthly figures from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

The British Retail Consortium said that December was a “polarised month” as shoppers held out for the Christmas week, which saw sales up around 40 percent compared with the other weeks of the month.

Total sales for December are in line with the three-month average of 1.8 percent, however, the BRC added that it was faster than the 12-month average of 1.2 percent.

Over the three-months to December, non-food retail sales climbed by 1.1 percent on a like-for-like basis and by 1.3 percent on a total basis, marking the lowest non-food 12-month average total growth since October 2012.

However, during the same three-month period, online sales grew by 7.2 percent, while in-store sales declined by 1.2 percent on a total basis and by 1.4 percent on a like-for-like basis.

British Retail Consortium chief executive, Helen Dickinson said: ”December is the most important trading period of the year and with sales across 2016 growing more slowly than the previous year, it was all to play for in the final month. Despite the slow start to the Christmas trading period, the week itself was a bumper one and exceeded expectations. It delivered the majority of sales growth for the month, proving even bigger than the Black Friday period, which is the reverse of what we saw the year before.”

Dickinson added: “The challenge for retailers in 2017 will be to create real growth against a backdrop of growing inflationary pressures and persisting economic and political uncertainty. To this end, we’ll be continuing our work with Government to encourage policies that help retailers keep prices down for consumers.”