Weather cost fashion industry 700 million pounds

Britain’s weather cost the UK’s fashion industry around 700 million pounds, according to the ‘Weathernomics’ report by The Weather Channel, revealing that weather conditions have by underestimated by the likes of the British Retail Consortium and the ONS in recent years.

‘Weathernomics’ has identified a number of “fundamental” impacts of the role weather plays in retail, including effecting the supply of products and services, as well as the shoppers demand for such items.

According to the research, “severe or extreme weather” has less impact on retail sales than long periods of bad weather, with The Weather Channel stating that 10 days of 3 inch snow is much worse than 1 day of 30 inch snow.

The findings also show that business is very susceptible to seemingly small variations in weather, for instance a seasonal temperature of 1 degrees celcius higher/lower than the norm can lead to a ‘disappointing’ quarter or annual result.

When it comes to the 300 billion pound UK retail sector, the report reveals that the performance of retailers can be critically judged on a 1 percent increase/decrease in sales, while US academics estimate retail sector sensitivity to weather fluctuations can equate to as much as 2.3 percent of the sector’s sales.

It adds that almost 60 percent of consumers said weather of all kinds has an impact on their shopping habits. In the summer of 2010 the UK was hit with floods, and it cost the UK economy 3.2 million pounds, while last year saw the warmest year on record and the report states that the unseasonably mild autumn was estimated to have reduced clothing sales by 700 million pounds.