Black Friday discounts allow UK retail sales to post positive November

(Alliance News) - Retail sales in the UK rose by 5.0% in November from a year before and by 4.1% ...

Alliance News 7 December, 2021 | 7:00AM
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(Alliance News) - Retail sales in the UK rose by 5.0% in November from a year before and by 4.1% from pre-pandemic November 2019, according to the BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, released on Tuesday.

The British Retail Consortium said the increase in sales last month - covering the period from October 31 to November 27 - compares to 0.9% annual growth in November 2020. It was above the three month average of 2.2%, but below the 12-month average of 9.9%.

On a like-for-like basis, UK retail sales rose by 1.8% from a year before and 7.8% from two years before.

Over the three months to November, foods sales edged up by just 0.1% in total, but decreased by 0.5% on a like-for-like basis. Non-food sales over the same period rose by 3.9% in total and by 0.9% on a like-for-like basis. Non-food sales also grew in the month of November alone.

The BRC said early shopping for Christmas benefited November sales. "While Christmas may or may not be getting earlier every year, Black Friday certainly is," said BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.

"The American holiday has now become a month-long affair in the UK, with deals spread over a longer period than ever before. As people prepared their wardrobes for the cold weather this winter, consumers took advantage of discounted clothing, shifting the focus of Black Friday from just electronics and household appliances."

She added: "Looking forward to Christmas, spending patterns suggest that sales could be more spread out than in previous years. Consumers, erring on the side of caution, are shopping for gifts earlier to get ahead of issues relating to shipping and transport."

Black Friday is a retail sales event that has its origins in the US and is observed a day after Thanksgiving. It traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season and sees vendors typically slash prices.

By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com

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