Shopping for Uniforms and Fashion

Tuesday 13th of April 2010 10:52:04 PM

It’s been a difficult two years for retailers as consumers tightened their belts during the worst recession seen in over fifty plus years. Now that the recession is ending, shoppers are still wary of spending money because unemployment remains high and credit is tight. Yet the first signs that the economy is improving at the retail level are starting to appear.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has reported that high street retail sales are starting to show signs of life again with sales posting increases for the third consecutive month for year-on-year comparisons. The Distributive Sales Survey was completed and 43% of retailers indicated they were seeing higher sales in April this year compared to April sales last year.

This is certainly good news for retailers that have been struggling to hang on as the recession winds down. Of course, 30% of the respondents also said that sales were lower for the same comparison.

Consumers have been limiting their household spending to essentials like work uniforms and school clothing. Retail sales across the board have been low for many months now and a number of well known retailers have gone bankrupt. Clothing and furniture remain the slowest retail segments while grocers and footwear are in the highest categories. Consumers continue to shop online also looking for bargains.

The Chairman of the CBI Distributive Trades Panel is Andy Clarke. Clarke said, “Spring has landed on the high street with some modest but welcome sales growth, and that improvement is expected to carry on into early May.” This is not to say that economy is good. The UK economy is experiencing rising unemployment and a weak recovery so there is a long way to go to full recovery. But it’s good to see some signs that consumers are gaining more confidence.