What is the situation within retail after the Brexit Referendum?

PODCAST: In this monthly Fashion Friday podcast series by Euromonitor International, we will have a closer look at challenges of UK fashion retailers with Research Analysts, Pia Ostermann and Kseniia Galenytska.

In the aftermath of the brexit referendum, the value of the pound has depreciated by around 17 percent against the US dollar, and by 12 percent against the euro. In relation to this, the retailers in the UK have not reacted as quickly, and UPs remained unchanged for another few months after the currency depreciation. As a result, from a global perspective, prices in the UK were lower and more appealing, which caused an influx of tourism to the UK as consumers hunted for Luxury goods. Consequently, the UK has seen a significant rise in tourism spend.

However, while this was a positive short term situation for consumers and retailers, Luxury brands started harmonizing their unit prices to those overseas from the end of 2016. For instance, the UPs for some bags from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Burberry increased by up to 30 percent, while prices of high end watches such as Rolex, Omega, and Longines increased by around 10 percent since the end of 2016.