LONDON- In December, shop prices in the UK have fallen for the seventh month running forcing retailers to use attractive discounts to draw in shoppers in the days leading up to Christmas, according to an industry survey on Friday.
Prices in stores between 2nd to the 6th of December were lower 0.4% as compared to last year, after early November’s 0.5% annual drop. The research was conducted by Nielsen, a British Retail Consortium and market research company.
Mike Watkins, Neilsen’s head of retailer and business insight, said that shoppers discretionary spend and discounts competition were deeper and began earlier due to a weakness in consumer demand.
In the run-up to Christmas, supermarkets faced weak growth in sales volume and hence, reduced prices at the time gave a short-term boost.
Consumer price inflation in Britain, that covers a wide range of goods and services, was at its lowest join rate since November 2016 and held at 1.5% in November.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.