Christmas Sales Better Than Expected

There was a slow start to Christmas shopping in November and gloomy predictions of a disastrous festive period for retailers. However, the British retail Consortium (BRC) has said that in fact takings were up 2.5% in December on the same period the year. This was only slightly down on the 2.6% rise in December 2005.

According to the BRC, early Christmas sale bargains and a period of cold weather helped boost sales in the last week before Christmas. Electronic goods such as flat screen tvs and laptops were particularly popular but cd sales suffered due to competition from internet downloading. The mild weather had affected demand for clothes and footwear but the arrival of a cold snap meant a last minute boost in sales of winter stock. The BRC survey also highlighted the popularity of promotions on wine and champagne which had contributed to the strong sales of food and drink. The increase in sales comes despite a survey by Footfall which shows the number of shoppers on the high street, in the week before Christmas, was actually down 8% on the previous year.

The total retail sales in 2006 show an increase of 4.4% on the figures for 2005.

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