Retail Insights

17 February 2017

Retail Economics Response - ONS Retail Sales Index January 2017

Retail sales (volumes, seasonally adjusted, excluding fuel) rose by 2.2 per cent in January 2017, according to the latest figures from the ONS. This slowed sharply from the growth of 7.0 per cent, year-on-year, reported in December. There was a sharp slowdown in Food sales which fell by 1.0 per cent, year-on-year — the... read more

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14 February 2017

Retail Economics Response - ONS Consumer Prices Index January 2017

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 1.8 per cent in January on the previous year, up from 1.6 per cent reported in December. Inflation is now rising at its fastest rate since June 2014 when it was 1.9 per cent.

The main contributors to the increase in the rate were rising prices for motor fuels and to a l... read more

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09 February 2017

Retail Economics publish Outlook for UK Retail in 2017

We have entered 2017 in extraordinarily uncertain times. The political and economic environment has changed markedly over the last 12 months. It is difficult to remember a more challenging time to take a view on how these events will play out for the retail industry.

Despite the anxiety caused by the... read more

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03 February 2017

National Living Wage bites as retail costs rise at fastest rate in two years

Richard Lim, Chief Executive, Retail Economics said: "A toxic mix of rising operational costs and more expensive imports, driven by the collapse in sterling, has pushed up the cost of retailers doing business at the fastest rate in two years.

"Staffing accounts for over 40 per cent of operational costs for m... read more

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20 January 2017

Retail Economics Response - ONS Retail Sales Index December 2016

Retail sales (volumes, seasonally adjusted, excluding fuel) surged by 7.1 per cent in December according to the latest figures from the ONS. This was off the back of a 5.9 per cent year-on-year growth in November. Sales growth was driven by an implausible rise of 18.9 per cent from small retailers. Large retailers repo... read more

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17 January 2017

Retail Economics Response - ONS Consumer Prices Index December 2016

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 1.6 per cent in December on the previous year, up from 1.2 per cent reported in November – faster than expectations. Inflation is now rising at its fastest rate since July 2014 when it was 1.6 per cent.

The main contributors to the rise in the rate of inflation was air... read more

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23 December 2016

Christmas Countdown Survey: Over a third of consumers expect to spend less this Christmas

Our final Christmas Countdown Survey reveals that 17 per cent of shoppers are still yet to start their Christmas shopping. The findings also showed that 27 per cent of consumers are expecting to spend more this Christmas than last year with 34 per cent expecting to spend less. 36 per cent of consumers still need to bu... read more

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16 December 2016

Christmas Countdown Survey: A quarter of shoppers yet to start their Christmas shopping teeing up the busiest weekend of the year

Over a quarter of shoppers are still yet to start their Christmas shopping with just nine shopping days left until the big day. Research from Retail Economics revealed that just over a quarter of consumers intend to spend more this Christmas than last year which is outweighed by over a third who said they are likely to... read more

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15 December 2016

Retail Economics Response - ONS Retail Sales Index November 2016

Retail sales (volumes, seasonally adjusted, excluding fuel) saw another strong month rising by 6.6 per cent in November according to the ONS. This was off the back of 7.5 per cent growth in the previous month. It suggests that consumers are unfazed by the Brexit vote and undeterred by the economic doom-mongers.
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13 December 2016

Retail Economics Response - ONS Consumer Prices Index November 2016

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 1.2 per cent in November on the previous year, up from 0.9 per cent reported in October. Inflation is now rising at its fastest rate since October 2014 when it was 1.3 per cent. Rises in the prices of clothing, motor fuels and a variety of recreational and cultural goods and serv... read more

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08 December 2016

Christmas Countdown Survey: A third of shoppers yet to start their Christmas shopping

A third of shoppers are still yet to start their Christmas shopping with just 16 shopping days left until the big day. Research from Retail Economics revealed that just over a quarter of consumers intend to spend more this Christmas than last year which is outweighed by a third who said they are likely to spend less. <... read more

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17 November 2016

Retail Economics Response - ONS Retail Sales Index October 2016

Retail sales (volumes, seasonally adjusted, excluding fuel) rose by a whopping 7.6 per cent in October according to the ONS. This is the fastest growth since April 2002.

Retail sales growth (value, non-seasonally adjusted, excluding fuel) rose by 6.1 per cent in October from 2.4 per cent in the previous mon... read more

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15 November 2016

Retail Economics Response - ONS Consumer Price Index October 2016

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 0.9 per cent in October on the previous year. This was down on the previous month when inflation was 1.0 per cent - surprising many commentators who had expected inflation to accelerate further.

Although the rate was slightly lower than in September 2016, it remained hi... read more

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08 November 2016

Consumer appetite for Black Friday overestimated

The novelty of Black Friday appears to be wearing off with just 21 per cent of consumers suggesting they will take advantage of promotions this year, down on last year’s 25 per cent. What’s more, there is a mismatch between consumers’ and retailers’ perceptions of Black Friday with 40 per cent of retailers expecting hi... read more

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20 October 2016

Retail Economics Response - ONS Retail Sales September 2016

Retail sales growth (value, non-seasonally adjusted) rose by 2.4 per cent in September from 4.1 per cent in the previous month as the first signs of weaker consumer spending may be appearing to materialise. After a period of surprisingly strong growth since the referendum, inflation rose sharply last month to 1 per cen... read more

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