Table of Contents
UK Retail Sales
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- Key points
- Retail Sales
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- Figure 5: Retail sales trends, January 2019 – January 2021
- BRC vs ONS
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- Figure 6: UK retail sales y/y growth, BRC vs ONS, January 2018 – January 2021
- Inflation
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- Figure 7: Annual % change in the consumer price index for selected product groups, January 2019 – January 2021
- Inflation and wages
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- Figure 8: Real wages growth: Wages growth vs inflation, January 2016 – November 2020
- Looking forward
Sector Focus – Clothing Retailing
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- What we have seen
- Clothing sales slump in January
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- Figure 12: Growth in store based clothing sales, year on year, January 2019- January 2021
- Consumers are spending less on clothing
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- Figure 9: Percentage of consumes who said they are spending more, about the same or less in next month on clothing and accessories, 4th February 2021 - 12th February 2021
- Retailers need to make store COVID friendly
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- Figure 10: Clothes shopping behaviour in-store once clothes stores have reopened following COVID-19 lockdown, August 2020
- COVID-19 changes shopping habits
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- Figure 11: Changes in clothes shopping behaviour since COVID-19, August 2020
Launch Activity and Innovations
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- UK: Iceland expands Uber Eats deal to offer 20-minute delivery
- UK: Joules extends into gardening with new acquisition
- UK: John Lewis adds 50 new brands to its fashion and beauty offering
Headlines for the Month
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- Co-ops
- Grocers
- Other food and drink specialists
- Clothing retailing
- Multi-sector retailing
- Department stores
- DIY retailing
- Electrical retailing
- Online
News Analysis – Food and Drink
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- Co-ops
- UK: Central England Co-op sees Christmas sales grow 9.2%
- Grocers
- UK: Aldi to offer first click-and-collect service to Irish customers
- UK: Asda
- ...to offer 5,000 nurseries priority access to delivery slots
- ...EG Group to acquire Asda forecourt business for £750m
- UK: Booths Christmas sales up 11% on a like for like basis
- UK: Lidl festive sales up 18% during the festive period
- UK: Sainsbury's
- ...to launch own-brand compostable tea bags
- ...unveils Fresh Food Market after successful trial
- UK: Tesco
- ...delivers ‘record Christmas’ as sales grow 6.8%
- ...says Brexit is a ‘challenge but not a crisis’
- Other food and drink specialists
- UK: Hotel Chocolat sales up 19% as shoppers move online
News Analysis – Clothing and Footwear
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- Clothing retailing
- UK: Apricot to switch majority of UK stores to turnover based rents as CVA is approved
- UK: Asos
- ...joins as contender in the race for Topshop
- ...buys Topshop for £295m in ‘a hugely exciting moment’
- ...Topshop and Miss Selfridges websites officially shut under new owner Asos
- UK: Boohoo
- ...in exclusive talks to buy Burton and Dorothy Perkins
- ...acquires remaining Arcadia brands for £25.2 million
- UK: Burberry festive sales down 9%
- UK: Charles Tyrwhitt warns of further store closures
- UK: French Connection considers sale after receiving takeover approaches
- UK: Hawes & Curtis move into loungewear
- UK: Jigsaw sales fall by £31m as it completes CVA and restructuring process
- UK: Joules revenue falls 15.2% due to store closures amid the pandemic
- UK: Knomo acquired by marketing agency as part of new retail division
- UK: M&S finalises deal with Jaeger
- UK: Mango to launch into homewares in the spring
- UK: Matalan Christmas sales drop 11.2%
- UK: Primark warns of £1bn loss in sales due to lockdown but refuses to move online
- UK: Quiz revenues down 73% as pandemic ‘significantly’ impacts demand
- UK: Seasalt Christmas online orders ‘more than compensated’ for lost store sales
- UK: Superdry interim sales down 23% ‘reflecting COVID-19 effects’
- UK: Sweaty Betty revenues grow 60% buoyed by demand for activewear during lockdown
- UK: Vans owner sees revenues drop 6%
- Footwear retailing
- UK: Hotter Shoes online sales grow 27% over festive period
- UK: Kurt Geiger sales up 3.7% pre-COVID pandemic
- UK: Dr Martens
- ...announces ‘next exciting stage of development’ and considers IPO
- ...confirms IPO marking ‘an important milestone’
- ...reveals IPO details
News Analysis – Mixed Goods
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- Multi-sector retailing
- UK: Halfords sales up 7.7% after ‘best ever’ Christmas week
- UK: M&S launches online learning resources amid school closures
- UK: Poundland sees festive like for like sales jump 2.4%
- Department stores
- UK: Debenhams
- ...to close Oxford flagship and cut 320 jobs
- ...Boohoo buys Debenhams for £55 million
- UK: Jenners to close leading to 200 redundancies
- UK: Selfridges
- ...profits drop 10% amid ‘a challenging retail backdrop’
- ...reveals permanent bike shop at Oxford Street flagship
News Analysis – Household Goods
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- DIY retailing
- UK: Kingfisher reports strong Q4 and expects profits at top end of estimates
- UK: Screwfix reaches £2 billion milestone in sales
- Electrical retailing
- UK: Dixons Carphone sees online sales surge 121% driven by TVs, computing and gaming
- Furniture retailing
- UK: Jysk remains committed to expansion plans despite current climate
- Homewares retailing
- UK: Dunelm
- ...interim profits grow 23% as it benefited from pent-up demand in first quarter
- ...surge of online demand in boosting Christmas sales
- UK: Simba sales at £100m despite ‘exhausting’ year
News Analysis – Online
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- UK: Amazon revenues surge 38% year-on-year amid ecommerce boom
- UK: Asos sales up 23% to £1.3 billion
- UK: Boohoo increases revenue outlook as sales grow 40% in the UK
- UK: Eve Sleep sales up 6% in the year after record festive sales
- UK: Feelunique festive sales grow 39%
- UK: DIY etailer ManoMano sees record sales driven by UK demand
- UK: In The Style sales up 169% thanks to ‘very strong’ Black Friday and Christmas
- UK: Moonpig
- ...to press ahead with IPO plans
- ...valued at £1.2bn as float begins
- UK: N Brown sales fall 8.9% despite hailing ‘continued improvement’
- UK: Notonthehighstreet acquired by US Great Hill Partners
- UK: Ocado revenue up 35% as it invests into its capacity and technology during pandemic
- UK: OnBuy hails record start to 2021 and looks to international expansion
- UK: Studio Retail Group sales up by 17.2%
- UK: The Hut Group
- ...completes takeover of Dermstore
- ...Christmas sales up 51%
- UK: Very sales up 25% as Christmas shopping started early
News Analysis – Other Retail
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- Book and stationery retailing
- UK: Card Factory sales dip due to store closures
- UK: Paperchase
- ...rescued out of administration
- ...to close 27 stores as part of rescue deal
- UK: WHSmith Christmas period ‘better than anticipated’
- UK: The Works hails ‘robust’ interim performance as online sales double
- Sports and leisure goods retailing
- UK: JD Sports
- ...and Fat Face latest to stop click-and-collect services
- ...enhances presence in the US with $495m acquisition
- ...increases full-year outlook to £400m
- ...raises £464m to help drive expansion plans
- Jewellers
- UK: Watches of Switzerland sees sales 6.6% in ‘another strong performance’
- Pets and pet products retailing
- UK: Pets at Home sees ‘robust’ Christmas trading
- Shopping centres
- UK: Westfield Stratford to open COVID-19 vaccination centre
News Analysis – Economy
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- UK: BRC
- ...January retail sales fall -1.3% on a total basis
- ...retail sales up 1.8% in December
- UK: All retail sales dipped 0.3% in December
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