Table of Contents
Analyst Comment – Christmas 2017 – An Interim Report
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- First indicators
- The BRC numbers
- Food retailers
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- Figure 1: Leading food retailers, Christmas 2017
- Clothing retailers – A very mixed performance
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- Figure 2: Leading clothing retailers, Christmas 2017
- Department stores – The good, the bad and the ugly
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- Figure 3: Leading department stores, Christmas 2017
- Some sparkling other performances
- Online still growing strongly
- Lessons for 2018
Retail Sales
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- Key points
- Retail sales
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- Figure 4: Retail sales trends, 2016/17
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- Figure 5: UK retail sales y/y growth, BRC vs ONS, Dec 2015-Dec 2017
- John Lewis
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- Figure 6: John Lewis: Year-on-Year Growth, Dec 2016- Jan 2018
- Rising inflation
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- Figure 7: Annual percentage change in the consumer price index for selected product groups, 2016-17
- Inflation and wages
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- Figure 8: Real wages growth: wages growth vs inflation, 2014-17
- Confidence
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- Figure 9: Consumer financial confidence: current state of finances and current state versus last year, Jan 2014-Dec 2017
- Looking forward
Sector Focus – Clothing
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- Large clothing specialists underperform
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- Figure 10: Annual % change in clothing retail sales, non-seasonally adjusted, by month, Jan 2016-Dec 2017
- Consumer spending on clothing grows
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- Figure 11: Consumer spending on clothing, at current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, Q1 2015-Q3 2017
- Rising inflation hits clothing
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- Figure 12: Consumer prices inflation for clothing and overall CPI, Apr-Dec 2017
- Christmas trading update
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- Figure 13: Performance of clothing retailers in the UK over the Christmas period, 2017-18
- Market leaders put in a poor performance
- Lifestyles retailers benefit from strong brands
- Online-only retailers see impressive growth
- Cautious outlook for 2018
Innovation and Launch Activity
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- UK: Asda rolls out vegan mince pies
- Poundland to start selling mattresses
- East of England Co-op sells food after ‘best before’ date
- Waitrose launches brussels sprouts wreath
- Sainsbury’s enters partnership with Zizzi
- Sainsbury’s launches pop-up fizzy wine stall
Headlines for the Month
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- Co-ops
- Convenience stores
- Grocers
- Clothing retailing
- Department stores
- Electrical retailing
- Carpet retailing
- Toys and games retailing
- Economy
News Analysis – Food and Drink
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- Co-ops
- UK: Co-op
- …and Silentnight launch online bed shop
- …to open 100 new food stores
- …gives a strong showing for Christmas
- …launches partnership with local Derbyshire breweries
- Convenience stores
- UK: Conviviality buys over 100 Palmer & Harvey stores
- UK: Nisa sales rose 17.7% in December
- Grocers
- UK: Aldi
- …Christmas figures up 15% compared to 2016
- …predicts Specially Selected range will reach £1bn in 2018
- …releases prosecco-infused chicken
- UK: Asda launches ‘Parcel Tower’
- UK: Lidl narrowly beats out Aldi in Christmas sales jump
- UK: Morrisons Christmas sales increased by 2.8%
- UK: Sainsbury’s
- …gin sales rise
- …launches pop-up fizzy wine stall
- …says it ‘outperformed the market’ over Christmas
- UK: Tesco
- …backing healthy eating campaign
- …unveils line of vegan meals called ‘Wicked Kitchen’
- …Tesco-Booker deal fully approved
- UK: Waitrose bans sale of energy drinks to children
- Off-licences
- UK: Majestic Wine sales up 1.2% over Christmas
News Analysis – Clothing and Footwear
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- UK: Fatface Christmas sales up 12%
- UK: Jigsaw reports 7% sales uplift
- UK: Joules sales increase by 18.2%
- UK: Missguided reports operating loss of £1.4 million
- UK: Moss Bros issues profit warning as Christmas sales plummet
- UK: Next Christmas sales rise 1.5%
- UK: Quiz revenues jump by nearly a third over Christmas
- UK: Sophie Hulme offers instore handbag personalisation
- UK: Superdry
- …attracts former Burberry and Debenhams executives
- …revenues grow nearly 14% in Christmas
- …Superdry Sport becomes official clothing supplier for Invictus Games
- UK: Ted Baker festive sales soar 9%
- UK: The White Company reports difficult trading
- Footwear retailing
- UK: Shoe Zone sales fall in 2017
- Shopping centres
- UK: Westfield shopping centres bought for £18.5 billion
News Analysis – Multi-sector
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- UK: Mothercare sales down in Christmas period
- Department stores
- UK: Debenhams festive sales down 0.8%
- UK: Harvey Nichols reports losses of £6.7 million
- UK: House of Fraser
- …launches localised pop-up concession plan
- …seeks rent reduction for its stores
- UK: John Lewis
- …extends Click & Collect pick up for Christmas
- …Christmas sales up 8.9%
News Analysis – Home and Household Goods
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- UK: Bunnings opens small format store in Bicester
- UK: Topps Tiles reports strong growth in Q1
- Electrical retailing
- UK: Currys launches same-day delivery service
- UK: Dixons Carphone profits decline 60%
- UK: Maplin boss quits to head up Gaucho Group
- Housewares retailing
- UK: Dunelm appoints Nick Wilkinson as new CEO
- Carpet retailing
- UK: Carpetright profit falls in H1
- UK: United Carpets profits fall 8%
- Furniture retailing
- UK: Feather & Black rescued from administration
- Health & beauty
- UK: Miller Harris unveils new concept store
News Analysis – Online
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- UK: Gear4Music sales up 42% before Christmas
- UK: Ocado revenue rises 11.6% in Q4
News Analysis – Other Retail
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- Book and stationery retailing
- UK: Ryman and Robert Dyas sales jump as Boux Avenue falls
- Sports and leisure goods retailing
- UK: Mountain Warehouse sales soar 38.2% for Christmas
- UK: Sports Direct reported profit before tax falls 67%
- Toys and games retailing
- UK: Games Workshop sales rocket more than 50% in H1
- UK: Toys R Us faces collapse
News Analysis – Economy
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- UK: Black Friday fails to make an impact on November footfall
- UK: December non-food sales fall
- UK: Inflation hits near-six year high
- UK: Retail sales perform well for November
- UK: Shop prices fell 0.6% in December
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