High street

Figures show watches and jewellery is third strongest retail sector in June

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for June 2016 reports a growth in jewellery and watch sales versus last year.

Jewellery and watches also ranked third in sector performance for June 2016, despite being up against a strong comparable in 2015.

The report says the performance of this category was boosted by the run-up to Eid in the final week of the June period, whereas that run-up was in July last year.

The latest figures show overall retail sales decreased 0.5% on a like-for-like basis from June 2015, when they had increased 1.8% from the preceding year.

On a total basis, sales were up 0.2%, against a 2.9% rise in June 2015, which had been the third best performance in 2015.

On a three-month basis, total UK retail sales rose 0.5%, and 1.2% on a 12-month average basis. This is the lowest 12- month average since May 2009.

British Retail Consortium chief executive, Helen Dickinson, comments: “While sales did slow towards the end of the month, it is too early to define this as a trend. The month outturn was predominantly driven by a decline in sales in the fashion categories and isn’t a surprise given that June 2015 saw record growth in clothing and footwear. Looking across the last three months, food has held its ground with a better performance than non-food sales, which has seen its lowest growth since April 2012, largely due to fashion combined with a slowdown in furniture.

“Britain’s retailers remain open for business. The EU referendum vote has not changed their relentless pursuit of delivering for customers day in, day out or their investment in meeting the needs of fundamental changes in the way people shop, driven by digital and technology. Despite the fall in the pound, the time it takes for any input price increases to translate into higher shop prices will depend on a combination of factors including further changes in the pound, commodity prices and the challenge for retailers to move pricing given the intensity of competition. So, there won’t be any instant shocks as any changes would take time to feed through.”

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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