January like-for-likes enjoy modest increase after ‘subdued’ December

January retail sales grew marginally despite a ‘subdued’ December, according to latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). 

The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor found that total sales were up 1.6% compared with the same period last year, and above the 12 month average of 1.4%.

However this represented a smaller rise than the 5.4% jump last year (compared with 2013).

On a like-for-like basis, which excludes the opening of new stores, sales rose 0.2% from January 2014, when they had increased by 3.9% on the preceding year.

Non-food retail sales increased by a total of 2.7% and were helped by the continuation of end-of-season sales into January.

Helen Dickinson, director general at the BRC, said: “Retail sales have continued to grow with January reporting a respectable 1.6 per cent increase. Looking into the numbers a little more closely gives us even more cause for optimism – last year retailers had a bumper January so to see growth against such a tough comparison shows the industry to be in rude health.”

However, David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPM, said the figures demonstrate the “difficult cycle” that retailers are “trapped” in.

He said that demand was now “almost solely driven by discounts, with shoppers very reluctant to buy goods at full price in the hope that yet another sale could be just around the corner.”