Retailers suffer 'worst Christmas in ten years'

Published on Tuesday 11 January 2005 12:00

RETAILERS endured their "worst Christmas for a decade" according to trade body the British Retail Consortium.

Its latest survey covering the vital festive period revealed that like-for-like sales had dipped by 0.4 per cent in December.

According to the BRC, who conducted the poll in conjunction with business services group KPMG, the last month of 2004 started slowly then deteriorated. Some salvation was gained by a burst of last-minute buying coupled with some strong performances in the Boxing Day sales.

A number of groups, including Next, Marks & Spencer and Woolworth have already turned in disappointing festive trading updates.

The BRC said consumers had put off buying so-called "big ticket" items, such as furniture and expensive electrical goods, in the hope they would be able to pick up bargains in the post-Christmas sales.

Mild weather also hampered demand for heating items, while the BRC said cheaper prices of computers and mobile phones meant sales values were well down on a year ago despite more units sold.

In contrast, sales of food and drink grew as grocers benefited from a longer trading week ahead of Christmas Day.