Britain’s retailers suffered another slow month for sales in February, according to industry figures that suggest a supermarket price war continues to affect takings.
A pick-up in sales of swimwear, sandals and other holiday items was barely enough to offset the continuing decline in food sales and that left like-for-like sales up just 0.2% on February 2014, matching January’s lacklustre growth. Sales were up 1.7% on a total basis, which does not adjust for the effect of new store openings, according to the latest British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor.
The industry group said there was some help from Valentine’s day-related sales including jewellery and beauty products. There was also a boost from furniture. But, extending a pattern seen throughout last year, food sales continued to fall in the latest three months on a like-for-like basis.
“Activity on the high street has settled into a monotonous equilibrium, with falling like-for-like food sales persistently wiping out any meaningful like-for-like growth the non-food sector manages to achieve. February’s figures are also against very weak comparables, when bad weather caused sales to stall last year,” said David McCorquodale, head of retail at the report’s co-authors, the consultancy KPMG.
Food sales fell an annual 1.6% in the three months to February while non-food sales rose 1.2%. That left both categories taken together down 0.1% in like-for-like terms, the weakest underlying performance for three months.
McCorquodale said the wider economic recovery appeared to be “bypassing the retail sector. With interest rates and inflation remaining low, it’s surprising more consumers aren’t treating themselves to a new pair of shoes, or curtains for the home. One suspects that restaurateurs, not retailers, are benefitting from the extra cash in consumers’ pockets resulting from fuel price savings,” he said.
BRC sought to highlight the growth in total sales and the boost to consumers from continued discounting. Director general Helen Dickinson said: “After the bustle of Christmas and the excitement of the January sales, February is usually a quiet month for retailers. So it’s heartening to see that retail sales continued to rise this month by close to 2% … Sales are up while prices fall, which means that retailers are continuing to work hard to provide original products that excite customers at the right price.”
