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Retail sales dipped in May say retailers

Retail sales reportedly dipped in May as a result of customers’ unwillingness to spend, say retailers.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said May sales values, taking out the effects of closures and new stores, fell 2.1% compared with May 2010.

The BRC said the May figures were a more realistic reflection of the “tough conditions” on the High Street.

Rises seen in the previous two months had been “distorted” by a late Easter, an extra bank holiday and good weather.

Shoppers bought fewer items across the board, with sales of clothing, footwear and big ticket items all falling.

Stephen Robertson, the BRC’s director general told the national press: “These are poor figures. What we’ve seen here is food has been reasonably resilient but non-food has had a dreadful May.

“I guess people are saying ‘we can put it off for another day before we buy a sofa or bed or other big items’.”

The 2.1% fall refers to same-store sales - stripping out store expansions or closures.

The BRC said that overall sales were also lower, down by 0.3% on May last year.

“After two previous months distorted by the later Easter and extra bank holiday, this is a more realistic reflection of how tough conditions on the High Street really are,” Mr Robertson said.

“Customers’ fundamental reluctance to spend is now clear to see.”

He said May’s figures were much more representative, as the three-month figure from March to May showed a like-for-like drop in retail sales of 0.4%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .