Sales on the high street grew 0.7 per cent year-on-year in October, with high street shops enjoying a better than expected early start to the Christmas season.
According to the survey, homeware sales and lifestyle goods saw strong performances with sales growing by 11.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. Fashion sales did however continue to struggle, with sales dropping 0.9 per cent.
With Black Friday coming up later this month on 25 November, shops will once again have the opportunity to push product sales in one of the UK’s biggest shopping days of the year. Approximately £1.1 billion was spent in shops and online in just 24 hours last year, and £3.3bn over the entire four-day weekend, when shoppers flooded to snatch up the best cut-price products on offer.
Further research by PCA Predict, an online payment service, showed that e-commerce sales increased 279 per cent on Black Friday last year, compared to an average day's online sales.
"As the consumer appetite for Black Friday increases, we’re expecting to see up to 20-25pc more online transactions this year, making it a huge opportunity that retailers simply can’t afford to ignore," says Chris Harle of PCA Predict.
At Beavis Morgan, our specialist advisers to the retail sector understand that in this competitive environment retail business owners must work hard to win customer loyalty, increase productivity and strengthen their market position. We work with a number of retail businesses, helping them with strategic planning, business turnaround and improving business performance for the future.
For further information about how we can help you and your business, contact Steve Govey or your usual Beavis Morgan Partner.
Further reading:
eCommerce set to lead the way this Christmas
Digital technology and social media key to reaching customers
