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Consumer spend disappoints in November

Consumers failed to up their spend in November, adding to the woes of retailers in the run up to the Christmas period.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed that rates were flat last month, with rises of just 0.9% in comparison to November 2011.

Month-on-month there was little-to-no change in the volume of goods bought, while the amount spent actually fell, although marginally, by 0.01%.

Online sales, however, were boosted by 8.1% in November when compared with the same period last year, with growth of 19.2% in non-food sales volumes.

Fuel sellers suffered the biggest blow, with an 8.8% drop in quantity sold, and a 7.5% drop in the amount spent.

In contrast, household goods retailers fared comparatively well, with 3.6% rises in sales volumes, while sales volumes in clothing, textiles and shoe sales increased by 2%.

Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium commented: “This confirms our own findings that Christmas shopping was slow out of the starting blocks in November, as pressures on budgets and fears about the future left many of us reluctant to commit to spending early.

“But it’s the finish which matters, and the signs are that sales and shopper numbers have been building at a respectable pace throughout December, especially in recent weeks.

“With Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year this weekend will be the critical one – I’m expecting a last-minute rush but overall in sales terms it will be neither a bumper Christmas nor a disaster.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .