BRC criticises ONS's 'overly positive' picture of retail
Friday, 18 November 2011 09:37
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has criticised new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for inaccurately portraying the state of the British high street.
Information published yesterday (November 18th 2011) claimed that retail sales increased by 5.4 per cent in October 2011 when compared with the same month in 2010, while sales volumes also rose by 0.9 per cent.
For small stores, non-seasonally adjusted value data showed a boost of 9.5 per cent, while sales volumes for food shops were said to have increased - for the first time since April 2011 - by 0.3 per cent.
This was attributed to consumers spending before Christmas and supermarkets upping their promotions while decreasing their prices.
However, the BRC said this is not the impression it is getting from its members.
Director-general Stephen Robertson said: "Most retailers won't recognise the overly positive picture being painted by these ONS results. The reality is disposable incomes are down on a year ago and customers are cutting back."
He pointed out that its own statistics suggest total retail sales values are up only 1.5 per cent, which means people are buying less once inflation is factored in.
"Stores are competing hard for what customer spending is available but consumers are overwhelmingly gloomy," Mr Robertson concluded.
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