Disappointment for the British high street

Shoppers aren't hitting the streets

There was hope that during the build up to Christmas, the festive spirit would boost buying on the British high street, to aid the country out of the recession. Yet, the high street sales last month saw a "disappointing" rise.

The growth in the value of like-for-like sales slowed to 1.8 percent in November, down from 3.8 percent in October and 2.8 percent in September, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show. Economists had expected a 4 percent rise. Total high street sales were 4.1 percent higher than in November last year, against a 5.9 percent rise in October.

Stephen Robertson, BRC director-general, said to the British paper, The Times, "We would have expected a much stronger growth because the comparison is with very poor results in 2008 when November was the second-worst-performing month of the year. Consumer confidence is fragile and has taken a turn for the worse."

He went on to say, "Uncertainty over jobs and future tax increases and government spending cuts is making customers more cautious. Retailers are hopeful of a better Christmas than last year's dire performance, but it's still all to play for."

Are consumers waiting for a bargain?

Have consumers simply cut back on the Christmas spending in line with the recession, or are they hoping for a bargain closer to Christmas if they wait it out?

Mark Teale, of CB Richard Ellis, which is a member of the KPMG/Synovate retail think-tank, said, "Given that the economic panic has subsided since last autumn, retailers will be less apt to be drawn into heavy discounting this year."

December

So is December set to improve in terms of sales? Currently the fears remain, as the number of shoppers hitting the high street fell by nearly 5 percent last weekend.

Figures from Experian Footfall, which monitors high street shoppers, showed the footfall across the UK was 4.6 percent lower on Saturday than on the comparable Saturday last year, with a 5.1 percent drop on Sunday.

The West End of London bucked the trend, with a 33 percent rise in footfall over last year, helped by temporary pedestrianisation of Oxford Street and Regent Street on Saturday.

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