Latest news : Retail sales looking up

Sales on the high street increased in July compared with a year ago, and surpassed expectations, according to the latest Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) Distributive Trades Survey.

The survey of 20,000 retail outlets, found that while 18% of retailers said that sales were lower than a year ago, 51% said they rose, giving a balance of +33%. This compared well with the expected figure of +11% and could be good news for graduates hoping to enter the sector.

The retail sub-sectors experiencing the strongest growth were grocers, clothing, and footwear and leather. Annual summer discounts, the World Cup and warm weather were some of the reasons given for the boost in high street sales with retailers expecting sales growth to continue strongly throughout August.

Commenting on the survey, Lai Wah Co, Head of Economic Analysis, at the CBI said, ‘High street sales have performed well this month, with growth better than retailers predicted. Annual summer discounts and warm weather helped lift sales of clothing, while grocers and durable household goods retailers appear to have benefited from a World Cup boost to sales of food, drink and new televisions.

‘Retailers are optimistic that strong sales growth will continue next month, which is promising. We still expect the recovery in overall consumer spending to be fairly restrained, however, given concerns about the impact of public spending cuts and weak prospects for real take home pay in the coming year.’