Struggling retailers keep fingers crossed
- 00:02:07
- ITN
Struggling retailers keep fingers crossed
Retailers are hoping for a last-minute shopping surge in the crucial run-up to Christmas as figures show improved high street sales.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show mail order and online traders reported strong sales during November while high street retailers were also handed a reprieve.A 0.1 per cent decline in October - the first fall in nine months - fuelled fears of a high street slowdown but figures show a 0.4 per cent increase in November, an improvement on the 0.2 per cent expected by City analysts.The ONS said web and mail-based businesses put in their best performance for more than a year during the month, despite the recent warnings of an economic slowdown amid the global credit crunch.However, shopper numbers this week slumped by 5.9 per cent on Tuesday and by 8.7 per cent on Wednesday, compared with the same period of 2006, the Retail FootFall Index showed.And the British Retail Consortium has warned like-for-like sales growth for December will struggle to hit a 2 per cent increase on last year.Some high street stores are already offering discounts of up to 50 per cent in a bid to pull in shoppers.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | December 21, 2007
