Retail Economics Response - BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor August 2016

06 September 2016

Richard Lim, Chief Executive, Retail Economics said: “These latest figures from the BRC (total -0.3 per cent, like-for-like -0.9 per cent, change year-on-year) show that shoppers reined in spending despite a strong bounce back in consumer confidence.

"On the whole, consumers react to their personal experience of the economy in terms of their job security, rising prices in the shops and what happens to their wages. As of yet, not much has happened to affect spending power and so, judging by this latest data, their propensity to spend could be faltering.

"Shoppers are still coming to terms with what Brexit will mean for their personal finances and it’s this heightened uncertainty that will lead to volatility in the short-run."