In July, 30% of shoppers felt they would be worse off over the next 12 months; broadly comparable with the 27% who said this in July 2015, but not the 49% we saw immediately after Brexit.
Advertisement
The BBC cited David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, as saying that the warm weather had “helped blow away some of the post-referendum blues, boosting the United Kingdom feelgood factor and giving consumers a sense that “life goes on” following the initial shock of the Brexit vote”.
“However, little has materially changed for most United Kingdom households since June 23, so it is not surprising that sales are simply responding to their normal underlying drivers”.
Over the three months to July, online sales of non-food products in the United Kingdom grew 11.1% year-on-year.
British retail spending bounced back in July as sales promotions and good weather outweighed concerns that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union would deal an immediate hit to the economy.
Over the same period, store sales fell, posting growth of -1% on a total basis and -1.3 % on a like-for-like basis.
“We’ll have to watch and wait to see if the success of promotions spills over on to full price sales”.
The United Kingdom retail spending rebounded for the month of July, largely owing to huge discount sales amid promotional offers that kept consumers optimistic in spending on shopping.
There was also evidence of a boost to retailers and tourism from the weaker pound, which has fallen sharply since the referendum. This, combined with summer temperatures finally arriving in the United Kingdom, drove good growth in the clothing category, particularly for the women’s segment. In the 28 days before the vote, flight reservations had been down 2.8% year on year.
Official data has been scarce since the referendum but most business and consumer surveys have pointed to a sharp slowdown, prompting the Bank of England to cut interest rates last week for the first time since 2009 and restart quantitative easing. However, in the month after the referendum, they were up by 4.3%, according to travel research company ForwardKeys.
But the warmer weather may have played a part in a 12.2% increase in spending in pubs and a 12.8% rise in what card-holders spent in restaurants, it said.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said people were still spending because little had changed materially following the decision to leave the EU.
Advertisement
However, Barclaycard said that growth in spending overall had slowed.
