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New research predicts that December’s retail sales will reach £47.7bn, growing 4% when compared with last year when sales hit £45.8bn.
According to global market research firm Mintel, sales through non-food retailers are expected to reach £23.5bn (including £4bn from online sales generated by physical stores), while food retailers could see sales of £18.6bn.
Additionally, with online sales generated by physical non-food and food stores estimated to hit £5.4bn, combined with the £5.6bn generated by internet pure players, the group expects total online sales this December to be worth £11bn.
Richard Perks, director of retail research at Mintel, said: “We think that retailers can look forward to a reasonably good Christmas—not outstanding, but it won’t be bad either. While there are some reasons to be cautious, such as falling consumer confidence, there is no real sign of an underlying slowdown in retail sales growth.
“Retail sales have held up well this year and we expect the recent momentum is likely to be maintained, with retail sales growing at about 4% both in the final quarter of 2018 and in December itself.”
He added: “While there’s been much talk of how the High Street is being undermined by online retailing, it still only represents a relatively small part of overall retail sales, with most shopping still taking place in physical stores.”
