> Retail sales jumped by 6.9% in December but were driven by higher prices rather than people buying more, figures show.
> There was also a “healthy” rise in like-for-like sales from last December, according to the British Retail Consortium and accountancy firm KPMG.
> UK retail sales increased 6.5% on a like-for-like basis from December 2021, when they had increased by 0.6%.
Ah so it was compared to December last year, whereas today’s article is in comparison to November:
> Shop sales fell by 1% in December from the month before as people reined in their spending.
I felt like I was going crazy for a second!
That’s all the government ever says we should do. ‘Financial responsibility’
Rob more and more people of their money so far that people have to decide to choose between heating and eating and then surprised Pikachu when the average joe/jane has no more spending money left… UK in a nutshell
There are multiple factors as to why this is happening.
1: the cost of living.
2: Councils are giving preference to corporations over independent retailers due to the income they generate. Which the Council needs due to funding cuts from central Gov. There is only so many times you can go to Starbucks or WH Smiths.
3: the internet, I’m lucky enough to sail for a local charity, if it wasn’t for the internet and being able to source items cheaply the charity would fold. But this applies to everyone.
Those 3 are the core reasons retail is struggling, there are other factors but for me those 3 are the main ones.
So basically, shops made increased profits, despite moving a lower volume of goods.
Yeah, unsurprised.
Steal the bricks from the foundation and see how the roof copes
It says in the article ‘shop sales’.
I work in a shop with a post office that’s next door to the hub for a number of delivery companies and a sorting office.
People haven’t been buying less. They’ve been buying more, but online.
Working in a supermarket, December and the first week of January was savage insanity, people turning up several times a week to buy utter crap. Obsessive and needless. The last couple of weeks have been bliss.
idk about you guys but in recent months I’ve taken up minimalism and I cannot recommend it to people any more.
I’ve taken the approach where I only hold onto things that have a specific utility, so other than the essentials, it tends to be things like rugs, cushions, books, candles, lighting and houseplants. Other than that I’ve gotten rid of most everything that exists purely to be decorative and I cannot tell you how much peace of mind it brings me to come into a cosy space that is no longer filled with shit that I never needed and did nothing except take up space and require periodic dusting.
14 comments
*Clutches hocked pearls and realizes they are not there*
I suspect January’s figures will be quite severe as well.
I work in the city and anecdotally it feels much busier than it did most of last year, but I went into my local town on Sunday and it was eerily empty
Wonder if people were spreading the cost a bit more. Buying more in novemeber for eg.
its almost as if every politician and news outlet telling us of impending financial ragnarok have made people over cautious eh?
I’m sure there was an article saying the opposite a few weeks back. That must have been about something slightly different?
Edit – Found it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64213890
> Retail sales jumped by 6.9% in December but were driven by higher prices rather than people buying more, figures show.
> There was also a “healthy” rise in like-for-like sales from last December, according to the British Retail Consortium and accountancy firm KPMG.
> UK retail sales increased 6.5% on a like-for-like basis from December 2021, when they had increased by 0.6%.
Ah so it was compared to December last year, whereas today’s article is in comparison to November:
> Shop sales fell by 1% in December from the month before as people reined in their spending.
I felt like I was going crazy for a second!
That’s all the government ever says we should do. ‘Financial responsibility’
Rob more and more people of their money so far that people have to decide to choose between heating and eating and then surprised Pikachu when the average joe/jane has no more spending money left… UK in a nutshell
There are multiple factors as to why this is happening.
1: the cost of living.
2: Councils are giving preference to corporations over independent retailers due to the income they generate. Which the Council needs due to funding cuts from central Gov. There is only so many times you can go to Starbucks or WH Smiths.
3: the internet, I’m lucky enough to sail for a local charity, if it wasn’t for the internet and being able to source items cheaply the charity would fold. But this applies to everyone.
Those 3 are the core reasons retail is struggling, there are other factors but for me those 3 are the main ones.
So basically, shops made increased profits, despite moving a lower volume of goods.
Yeah, unsurprised.
Steal the bricks from the foundation and see how the roof copes
It says in the article ‘shop sales’.
I work in a shop with a post office that’s next door to the hub for a number of delivery companies and a sorting office.
People haven’t been buying less. They’ve been buying more, but online.
Working in a supermarket, December and the first week of January was savage insanity, people turning up several times a week to buy utter crap. Obsessive and needless. The last couple of weeks have been bliss.
idk about you guys but in recent months I’ve taken up minimalism and I cannot recommend it to people any more.
I’ve taken the approach where I only hold onto things that have a specific utility, so other than the essentials, it tends to be things like rugs, cushions, books, candles, lighting and houseplants. Other than that I’ve gotten rid of most everything that exists purely to be decorative and I cannot tell you how much peace of mind it brings me to come into a cosy space that is no longer filled with shit that I never needed and did nothing except take up space and require periodic dusting.