Mixed Picture of Joy and Gloom

Published on February 17, 2012 by The Editor · No Comments

The Wowster reports on a mixed picture of joy and gloom for retail in UK

UK retail sales seemed to be on the rise in January going against the trend of rising unemployment and increasing store closures.

The .9% hike went against forecast with particularly strong sales of furniture and sports goods encouraged by heavy discounting.

However, within a mixed picture it is doubtful this trend can continue without even more stores going to the wall. The figures for 2011 told their own grim story with 14 stores closing a day on average.

The biggest gainer as usual was online with internet sales growing from 9% to 12% of all sales.

Of the retailers, electrical stores and unsurprisingly booksellers are suffering as their online rivals clean up.

Again unsurprisingly, the biggest growth in the retail sector was charity shops and pound shops as the UK was learning to live within its reduced circumstances.

This helped keep the net loss of stores down to 174, a reduction of .25% on 2010.

Oh joy.

Some advice on increasing sales

The Wowster is the pen name of Nathan Goldberg, wowdewow publisher and founder. A devotee of pound shops.

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