Wily shoppers outfox retailers in December, BDO says

A cocktail of negative factors and wily shoppers left a hole in High Street retailers’ pockets last Christmas, a widely-followed survey of retail trends revealed.

The combination of the warmest December temperatures since records began, record-breaking rainfall and less discounting resulted in a “massive” 5.3% year-on-year drop in sales, according to BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.

That was the worst reading since the onset of the financial crisis, in 2008.

Sophie Michael, Head of Retail and Wholesale at BDO, said “many retailers had held out for a last minute sales Christmas rush that never arrived.”

Indeed, after Black Friday savvy shoppers opted to sit tight and wait for the sales to start on 25 December.

Despite the rally between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, sales still dropped by 2.6% year-on-year in the last week of the month, BDO explained.

“Early indications are that activity in January strengthened, so retailers will be hoping they can claw back some ground in the traditional January sales period, but it’s clear the overall picture is one of reduced spending.”