September 08 retail sales fall

No surprise to anyone that September’s official retail sales figures show a fall.  Sales volumes decreased by 0.4% from the previous month. 

Quarterly retail sales volumes rose by a modest 2.3%, the lowest increase for over two years, while sales in food stores fell by 0.1% the biggest single fall since records begain in 1986.

Figures released today from the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa) representing smaller high street retailers portrayed a similarly gloomy picture.

The bssa’s quarterly sales monitor shows overall sale performance of small retailers down by 3.8% on the previous year.

Likewise the British Retail Consortium earlier reported like-for-like sales figures of the larger retailers down 1.7% in September compared to the same month in 2007.

John Dean, chief executive of the bssa, commented:

The figures further underline the serious trading conditions being faced by small independent retailers currently and emphasise the need for the Government to take rapid and imaginative action before many businesses become insolvent