Retail Update - August 2017

Posted At: 18 August 2017 00:33 AM
Related Categories: Retail, Retail Statistics, Retailers

FSP’s SnapShop brings you a snapshot of the UK retail environment for the past month:

• July saw the demise of Chicago Rib Shack after it struggled with a lack of working capital; the chain was subsequently rescued by the entrepreneur behind the Camden Dining Group
• The month also saw the weakest reading in consumer confidence since just after the Brexit vote, dropping two points to reach -12 in GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index. Excluding the post-referendum dip in July 2016, the index hasn’t been this low since 2013
• Online retail sales grew by 11% in July, representing the slowest growth for the month since July 2013 according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. So far in 2017, online sales have grown by 12%
• British Land research has revealed a symbiotic relationship between physical stores and ecommerce. The research, using data from Connexity Hitwise, shows that when a new store opens, traffic to the retailer’s website from the surrounding postal area increases by 52% on average within six weeks of opening. And digital traffic from the local area then remains around this level, demonstrating that a physical store has a significant, positive and sustained impact on digital interaction with the brand
• The UK sports clothing market is expected to climb 8% to £2.5bn this year according to GlobalData, as the athleisure trend continues to grow. Customer demand following 'high profile attention via Instagram influencers' has driven fashion retailer investment in sportswear
• UK consumers made nearly 1.4 billion card payments in June, an increase of 12% on the same month last year and the highest growth rate since 2008, according to new figures from UK Finance. Contactless payments accounted for 34% of all card transactions, while online payments made up 13%. There are calls to increase the spending limit on contactless cards
• The KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank said that the health of Britain’s retail industry had fallen in the second quarter and was likely to drop even further in the third quarter. It said that if this were to happen, it would represent three consecutive quarters of negative performance “which is something that has not happened since 2012”

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