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North East retailers confident for Christmas following healthy trading year

In line with improving economic conditions and a healthy year of trading, the North East’s retail sector is feeling bullish about the upcoming festive season according to an independent survey of multi-channel retailers, commissioned by Barclays’ Retail & Wholesale banking team.

65% of retailers in the region are feeling more confident about Christmas trading compared to last year, which includes 22% who said they are far more confident.

The majority of those surveyed (65%) also said that they expected revenues to increase.

Local retailers are expecting to see growth across all of their sales channels over Christmas, with shopping on tablets predicted to take off. 34% of retailers said it would be their main sales channel from a growth perspective, ahead of stores at 19% and smartphones at 17%.

While in its infancy, retailers believe that shopping for gifts via social networking sites could increase by nearly a quarter (24%) compared to 2013.

The popularity of American shopping days is also on the up, with 64% of retailers planning Black Friday promotions on 28th November, the day after Thanksgiving, one of the most important shopping days in the U.S. retail calendar.

69% of those surveyed also said that they expect the popularity of Black Friday promotions to continue to gain traction in the UK in the years ahead.

Another tradition that has crossed the Atlantic is Mega Monday, traditionally the busiest online shopping day in America, which is set to fall on December 1st. Nearly all (95%) of the retailers questioned predicted that traffic will increase to their site on Mega Monday, compared to last year.

While practical gifts are viewed by over half (54%) as the most popular type of present predicted to be under the Christmas tree, 37% think that frivolous, fun presents will be more popular than in previous years.

Nearly one in ten (9%) think that shoppers will be more likely to purchase a few expensive luxury gifts instead, reflecting the UK’s burgeoning consumer confidence.

On Christmas Day itself, nearly all (99%) retailers expect traffic to their sites to be up, as shoppers scour for sale bargains, with the peak time for online shopping predicted to be between 8pm and 10pm.

Head of Corporate in the North East at Barclays, Brian Thorpe, said: “2014 has been a good year for many retailers in the North East thanks to heightened consumer confidence and this is clearly reflected in their brighter outlook for the Christmas season.

“It’s interesting to see that purchases on tablets have been cited as retailers’ biggest opportunity for growth and social commerce is also one to watch in the future, as ‘buy buttons’ on social networking sites will make online shopping even more accessible.

“The UK hasn’t seen Black Friday and Mega Monday fall on the same weekend since 2008 so retailers will be pulling out all the stops to make it a great shopping experience with some dazzling offers.

“However, some consumers will opt to leave their Christmas shopping later than this, thanks to improved delivery and Click and Collect options.”

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