BDO: Heavy Discounting Fails To Save November Retail Sales

• Total sales fell -5.8% in November, compared to an already negative November last year
• Worst total sales performance since January 2021
• Cost of living pressures and wider economic anxiety holding back consumer spending as retailers brace for further financial challenges next Spring

Total retail sales in discretionary spend categories fell by -5.8% in November, marking the worst performance for the sector since January 2021, according to BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker. 

Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO’s latest report shows negative sales growth both in store and online, compared to a poor performance in November 2023, when overall sales declined -0.3%. 

Sales performance was particularly poor online, with sales down -7.8%. In store sales fell by 5.5%, with the fashion sector recording particularly poor figures of -8.0% compared to November 2023. Whilst we might have expected extreme weather conditions in November to impact in-store sales, online sales are usually less negatively impacted by poor weather.

Sophie Michael, Head of Retail and Wholesale at BDO, commented: “These results are disastrous for the retail sector, with just one more month of the so-called ‘Golden Quarter’ left. Despite the hype around events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we’ve seen heavy and prolonged discounting throughout most of November, but this has failed to get consumers spending. 

“All retailers and particularly those operating within the discretionary spend category, will face an even tougher first quarter in 2025 should this sales trajectory continue into the final weeks of this year. 

“The industry has been very vocal about the detrimental impact that some of the measures announced in the Autumn Budget will have on their cashflow and  on their bottom line from next Spring. This sense of economic anxiety seems to have reached consumers too with the cost of living still higher than it has been in previous years and recent announcements about further rises to energy prices.

“Within this festive period, retailers also continue to face increasing competition for the consumer purse with many customers prioritising spend on leisure and hospitality experiences.

“As a result, the industry is calling on the government to take note and work with the sector and its supply chain to alleviate some of the upcoming heavy burdens as it looks ahead to a very rocky 2025.”

Key data points (compared to November 2023):

• Total like-for-like sales fell by -5.8%, the worst result since January 2021
• Online sales across all three categories (fashion, homeware and lifestyle) fell by -7.8%, the worst result since March 2022
• In-store sales fell by -5.5%, the worst result since February 2021

Source : BDO High Street Sales Tracker

Image : zhu difeng / shutterstock / 291593120

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