Retailers struggling for a Christmas lift

Published on Sunday 21 December 2008 20:47

SHARP price cuts made for a busy weekend in Britain's shops yesterday, but retailers were still struggling for a Christmas lift.

The John Lewis group, seen as a barometer for the UK retail sector, said sales picked up in its shops in the last weekend before Christmas, but were still down on a year ago.

The director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, Fiona Moriarty, said it had been "a very strong trading weekend" in Scotland's shops.

"Saturday was very busy, but Sunday has also been very good for many retailers. Importantly we still have three trading days before Christmas, and retailers will hope to see that momentum continue before Christmas Eve," she said.

John Lewis reported a surge in last-minute sales of items traditionally bought by men for their partners, like perfume and lingerie.

But while the group's takings rose 1.3 percent in the week ending on Saturday, compared to the previous seven days, they were down 1.8 percent on last year.

Sales activity across Britain yesterday suggested that some savvy shoppers were delaying purchases until late in the hope of further price cuts and sales bargains, analysts said.

With some shops slashing prices by up to 70 per cent, out-of-town shopping centres around the country reported queues forming before 9am.

An estimated half a million people visited London's West End, where stores stayed open longer in a bid to boost sales. Traders reported many European visitors taking advantage of the weakened pound.

Meanwhile, a rise in consumers using cash rather than cards was seen as another sign of careful budgeting.

Bruno Rost, of retail analysts Experian, said the numbers of shoppers were consistently down on last year.