For retailers, the festive period serves an existential function. The entire sector’s evolution has been shaped by this annual event – the period before hibernation when it must eat well to survive the cold of winter. An already demanding situation, the pressure on retail’s performance this Christmas grew due to the grim foretelling that typically low consumer spending in January would be further limited by the squeeze on disposable incomes, ever-present throughout the cost-of-living crisis.
The latest figures from the ONS provide no comfort. While the headline of a 3.8% increase in sales values compared to last year may appear a win for the sector, this number is dwarfed by inflation, revealed to have stood at 10.5% in December. Summarising, inflation-adjusted sales volumes were poor this Christmas, falling by 5.8% year-on-year.
