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 Sectorโs 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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Aug- 2018 -28 August
Amazon named โmost reputable UK retailerโ in consumer survey
Amazon, Boots and John Lewis have topped the 2018 UK Retail RepTrak ranking of the most reputable retailers, the Reputation Institute has announced. The research was based on 5,175 individual ratings from the UK general public and based on an assessment of 50 nominated companies. Amazonโs reputation significantly improved since…
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23 August
Urban Outfitters records record sales results as shares rocket
Urban Outfitters has announced record overall sales of ยฃ769.5m, seeing a 13.7% increase across the three months to July 31. The fashion retailer also announced an 86% income rise over the last quarter, bringing its half year income to ยฃ103.9m. The record figures led to a rocket in share price…
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21 August
Online retail spending stutters after England World Cup exit
UK online retail sales slipped to their lowest year-on-year (YoY) growth in 2018 so in July, as consumer spending โslumpedโ in the weeks following the end of World Cup. According to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, online sales increased by just 10% (YoY) in July, below the three,…
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16 August
Online sales and discounts help to boost retail sales
UK retail sales outperformed predictions with an increase of 0.7% in July, recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. This signified a recovery from the previous month, which saw a 0.5% decrease in the quantity of items purchased. When compared with the same month last year, the…
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14 August
High street job losses โcost British economy ยฃ1.5bnโ
New research has found that high street job losses have cost the British economy ยฃ1.5bn, as the number of lost jobs exceeds 30,000. Figures from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) include those facing imminent redundancy alongside those who have already lost their jobs, adding up to ยฃ1.5bn in lost GDP.…
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13 August
Household spending drops 0.9% in July
Household spending dropped 0.9% in July due to โdisappointing growthโ in real earnings, ย according to Visasโ UK Consumer Spending Index. The quickest fall in spend was registered in retail categories, decreasing by 1.2% year-on-year, and ecommerce expenditure fell by 0.5% after a marginal rise during June (0.4%). According to the…
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2 August
Over half of UK businesses braced for revenue drop due to Brexit
Over half of UK businesses believe Brexit will trigger a drop in revenue in 2019 according to new research by business intelligence and analytics solutions provider, MHR Analytics. The findings were published in the firmโs new report โBusiness Insight: The Data Surgeโ which contains detailed polling of 200 senior decision-makers…
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2 August
Scotland sees โdisappointingโ retail sales rise
Scottish government figures have found that retail sales in the country have risen by 0.3% between April and June compared with the three previous months. The UK as a whole saw a retail rise in sales volume of 2.8% according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the value of…
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1 August
Shop prices in July reach lowest deflation in eight months
The non-food items category reached its lowest level of deflation since December 2017, at 1.4% in July, according to new British Retail Consortium (BRC) data. The latest BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index showed fresh food inflation rose 1.6%, compared with only 0.8% in June, and ambient food inflation increased by 2.2%,…
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Jul- 2018 -31 July
Consumer confidence dips in July
Consumer confidence dropped in July despite the boost of the World Cup and heatwave, a new survey suggests. According to GfKโs most recent Consumer Confidence Index, which surveys 2,000 respondents, confidence dropped by one point to -10 compared with June. The index has registered confidence levels at zero or below…
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