A lacklustre December concluded a difficult 2024 for retailers, with more of the same expected this year, experts have warned, but some stores have lined themselves up well to take advantage of the dire situation.
While sales grew 3.2 per cent year on year in December, this was in part due to the later timing of Black Friday. Retail's ‘golden quarter’, which ends in December, was only up 0.4 per cent and the key trading period failed to provide the annual "send-off retailers were hoping for”, according to Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Non-food sales were 1.1 per cent lower in the final quarter, despite a strong showing for electricals, jewellery and beauty products.
This was reflected not only in the big discounts offered over the Black Friday weekend, but also by some shops kicking off end-of-year sales midway through December, which is “rarely a good sign” noted Shore Capital analyst Clive Black. In short, the sector is heading into the new year in a fragile state. The BRC projected average retail sales growth of 1.2 per cent this year, below the expected shop price inflation rate of 1.8 per cent, meaning volumes are likely to fall.