LONDON (Reuters) – British retailers reported lacklustre gross sales in November, in accordance with business information on Tuesday affected by the timing of the Black Friday gross sales, though it nonetheless pointed to weakening shopper confidence.
Gross sales volumes dropped by 3.3% within the 12 months to November, the weakest studying since April once they fell 4.0%, and under a rise of 0.6% within the yr to October, the British Retail Consortium mentioned.
Final month’s decline mirrored the truth that this yr’s information didn’t embrace Black Friday gross sales in late November, which shall be mirrored within the December numbers, although they have been included in final yr’s comparability.
“While it was undoubtedly a bad start to the festive season, the poor spending figures were primarily down to the movement of Black Friday into the December figures this year,” Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief govt, mentioned.
“Even so, low consumer confidence and rising energy bills have clearly dented non-food spending.”
The regulated price cap on family vitality elevated by 10% in October.
The BRC mentioned non-food gross sales fell 2.1% year-on-year within the three months to November, reflecting a decline in spending on winter clothes. Meals gross sales elevated by 2.4% in the identical interval.
British customers have additionally needed to take care of excessive rates of interest from the Financial institution of England in response to a soar in inflation throughout 2022. The BoE is predicted to maintain rates of interest on maintain at 4.75% later this month after slicing Financial institution Price in August and November.
Separate information from Barclays (LON:) on Tuesday confirmed the largest annual drop in important spending in over 5 years, which contracted by 3.1% in November.
Barclays mentioned the autumn was as a result of a slowdown in grocery store spending, which decreased 1.8%. In distinction, spending on non-essential objects rose by 0.8%, pushed largely by a 22.8% improve in spending on cinema tickets together with for Gladiator II, Paddington in Peru and Depraved films.
General, shopper spending on Barclay’s debit and bank cards fell by 0.5% in November, the primary decline since July.
“Understandably, a number of factors weighed on consumer spending in November, notably easing consumer confidence post-summer, and expectations that post-Budget, inflation and interest rates will stay higher in the coming months,” Jack That means, chief UK economist at Barclays, mentioned.
Barclays mentioned retail and total transactions on Black Friday elevated 9.5% in comparison with Black Friday 2023, with total transactions reaching the best thus far this yr.