Economy
Economy explores the wider economic forces influencing the UK retail industry. This section covers inflation, consumer spending, interest rates, labour market conditions, and policy developments affecting retail performance and profitability. Retail Sector’s Economy coverage provides expert analysis, data-driven insight, and commentary to help retail leaders, financial planners, and operational managers understand how macroeconomic trends are shaping demand, costs, and investment decisions across the sector.
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Dec- 2018 -20 December
Online breaks 20% of retail for first time
The quantity bought in retail sales increased by 0.4% in the three months to November 2018, driven by growths in non-food stores, online retailing and Black Friday promotions. According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), during the month online sales as a proportion of all…
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20 December
UK airport retailers expected to take over £56m during ‘busiest time of the year’
New research has found that UK travellers will spend over £56m at UK airports during this period, considered the “busiest time of the year”, spending on average £62 per person each time they fly. According to the research by payments company FreedomPay, UK airports are expecting almost one million passengers…
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19 December
John Lewis bucks retail woes with festive sales increase
John Lewis has bucked retail troubles reporting a total sales increase of 1.8% for the week to 15 December. The retailer blamed the rise on price-matching discounts and increased business from Christmas shoppers. The rise has defied trends elsewhere in the retail sector, where companies such as Asos have issued…
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19 December
Lowest November growth in seven years for online retail
UK online retail sales suffered its worst November growth since 2011 last month coming in at just +8.1% year-on-year (YoY), as Black Friday discounting failed to encourage consumer spending, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. November fell below the three- (+8.3%), six- (+10.5%) and 12-month (+12.2%) sales…
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18 December
Consumer spending drags for second month in a row
Consumer spending has dropped by 0.7% in November, the second month of decline following the 0.2% drop in October according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index. Expenditure also struggled to maintain growth momentum in 2018 to date, with spending falling in seven of the 11 months of the year so…
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18 December
HMV’s Hong Kong operations enter liquidation following 41% revenue fall
HMV is to wind up its Hong Kong stores after entering liquidation today (18 December), the company blamed a 41% revenue fall on the previous year along with the “global development of information and economic climate”. The retailer said the company’s insolvency was also to blame for the liquidation along…
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18 December
Brits to spend £1.65bn on last minute Christmas purchases
Some 14.9 million shoppers are expected to spend £1.65bn on last minute Christmas purchases, new research by discount code website VoucherCodes and the Centre of Retail Research (CRR) has revealed – equating to £2.38m per minute. Falling on 22 December, ‘Super Saturday’ is expected to see 10.1 million people descend…
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17 December
Laura Ashley to close 40 UK stores as it expands to China
Homeware and clothing retailer, Laura Ashley has announced it is to close 40 UK stores as it expands its Chinese business. Laura Ashley has already closed 40 UK stores since 2015 with owners Malayan United Industries (MUI) planning to reduce its UK presence to 120 stores. The group then wants…
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13 December
Russell and Bromley sees 55% profit plunge
Footwear retailer Russell and Bromley has announced a 55% fall in profits in the year to 31 December 2017. The fall represents the company’s third consecutive year of falling profits after it also announced that turnover dipped by 6% to £100.6m across the same period. The retailer called the challenges…
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11 December
Online non-food spend to top £75bn by 2023, data suggests
Total online spend is forecast to rise 34.5% over the next five years, reaching over £75bn by 2023 as consumers continue to shift spend to digital channels. With online retail spend set to rise 7.5% this year while offline spend increases by just 1%, UK consumers are set to spend…
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