The continued success of England in the world cup along side the sunny days has seemingly paid off for many uk based retailers, with sales in beer, BBQ related items as well as TV’s increasing exponentially. This has helped to paper over the cracks of the underlying challenges facing the UK high streets.
According to the latest health check, total retail sales rose by around 2.3% across the UK last month, this is above the average growth rate for consumer spending and higher than this time last year where the sales increase was around 2%. Out of this, grocery sales did especially well, thanks to the increase in sales of drinks which is due in one part to the scorching heat and England getting even closer to winning the world cup.
This is following one of the best months in recent years, where the royal wedding helped to increase sales for many retail items in May. Obersvers have said that the sales were solid, but far from sensational, meaning that while there is some joy to have for struggling retailers, it isn’t anything that will help them with their long term retail struggles.
Even with this positivity, retailers such as M&S and Mothercare are still shutting up shops and cutting jobs just to stay afloat, due to a generally weaker UK spending on the high street since the EU referendum.
The issue mainly boils down to the average household income not inflating in line with the increased costs of import caused by Brexit, which is getting worse consistently due to no profitable deal being made with the EU regarding trade, and once the feelgood factor of the sun and the world cup subsides, if no deal is in place, there is a good possibility that your average consumer will see more expensive products across the board as well as shortages on normal every day goods.
even with the stronger performance for food and drink, sales of furniture, footwear, household appliances and also stationary have all been in decline.