Wed, December 10, 2008
INTRO: Nervous British retailers fail to attract pre-Christmas shoppers as November Retail Sales figures post sharpest fall in 3 years.
MOREINFO: The British Retail Consortium said like-for-like sales fell 2.6 percent on the year last month -- the sharpest fall since April 2005 when the results were depressed by the timing of Easter. All sectors apart from food and drink recorded falls despite extensive heavy discounting.
SCRIPT:
Pre-Christmas sales have done little to boost spending in Britain's high streets.
Fears of a longer, deeper recession have sent retails sales tumbling by 2.6 percent in November compared to the same period last year.
Market analyst Neil Parker says consumers may be holding on for further price cuts.
SOUNDBITE: Neil Parker, Market Strategist, Royal Bank of Scotland, saying (English):
"It's a battle of wills really. Will the retailers cave in and discount ahead of the busiest period of Christmas
retailing or will they wait until January and the traditional January sales. In our view I think the consumers are winning this battle."
Analysts are predicting profits to plunge by 5.3 billion dollars next year.
Consumer confidence has been knocked by worries about job losses, falling house prices and a weaker pound.
Food sales seem to be fairing better, the only sector to see sales rise last month.
Parker says more consumers are substituting a night out for a night in.
SOUNDBITE: Neil Parker, Market Strategist, Royal Bank of Scotland, saying (English):
"I think that certainly when you do see a downturn or recession as this is likely to turn into, then one would expect to see people spend less time eating and drinking outside of the home and more time spending nights in."
Supermarkets have continued to discount heavily - enticing shoppers with 2 for 1 offers.
It's hoped that the governments recent move to cut sales tax from 17.5% to 15% and further interest rate cuts on the horizon, will help lift sales elsewhere.
Hayley Platt Reuters.
