Economy

Shop prices report deflation for twentieth consecutive month

Overall shop prices have reported year-on-year deflation for the twentieth consecutive month, decelerating to 1.7% in December after reporting deflation of 1.9% in November.  This is according to the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index which found that non-food deflation slowed marginally in December to 2.8% from 2.9% in November. On a 12-month…

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Pre-Christmas sales see biggest growth since 1988

Retail sales in the run up to Christmas have accelerated at their fastest pace for almost 26 years, according to CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey.  The survey of 122 firms covers the fortnight ending December 11 and includes the sales-boosting effects of Black Friday. Grocers saw the strongest year-on-year…

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Changing shopping habits continue to drive down footfall, says BRC

Footfall in November was down 2.4% on the same time last year, down on the 0.8% fall in October and below the three-month average of a 1.4% decline.  This is according to the latest BRC Springboard Footfall Monitor, in which footfall on high streets was down 4% compared to last…

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Small Business Saturday boosts local spending

Consumers across the UK helped support Small Business Saturday on December 6, with 16.5 million people shopping in small independent businesses on the day.  This support from shoppers represents a 20% increase in footfall on last year, with 2.7 million more shoppers when compared to the UK’s first Small Business…

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UK to become largest luxury goods market in Europe by 2018

Luxury Goods retailing in Europe is forecast to reach $150bn (£96bn) by 2018, with the UK set to overtake France and Italy to become to become the leading luxury shopping market by 2018.  This is according to forecasts from retail research agency Conlumino, which says that jewellery and watches is…

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Hallmarking set to top 10m items for first time in three years

The total number of hallmarked items is set to top 10 million for the first time since 2011, the latest data from the four UK assay offices suggests. Overall hallmarking figures, collated by the Assay Office Birmingham, dropped by 7.8% in November compared with the same period last year, mainly…

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Polished diamond suppliers reduce prices in November

Polished diamond prices fell in November as suppliers lowered prices in an effort to improve cash flow, according to Rapaport’s Rapnet Diamond Index (RAPI).  The price for 1-carat laboratory-graded diamonds declined by 1.7% in November, while 0.3-carat diamonds fell 2.2% and 0.5-carat diamonds dropped 1.6%. Three-carat diamonds decreased by 1.8%…

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Business rates set to undergo structural review

Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has said in his Autumn Statement that business rates will undergo a full “structural review” alongside the extension of the 2% cap on business rate increases for next year.  Further help on business rates announced in the speech included the extension of small business…

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Jewellery comes third in cross-border buying habits

Jewellery is the third most popular category for customers making cross-border purchases online in the US, according to new research.  The research, commissioned by PayPal and carried out by Ipsos, interviewed more than 17,500 online adults in 22 markets and found that the UK was the third most popular shopping…

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Online sales set to grow ahead of Christmas, says IMRG

Online sales are back on track following a disappointing September, with annual growth of 14% in October.  This is according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index which found an index growth of 7% month-on-month, the highest level of growth between September and October for four…

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