The British Retail Consortium has reported that UK store prices reported deflation of 1.6% in July, from the 2.0% decline in June.
The BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index for July 2016 found that food deflation remained at 0.8% for the second consecutive month, with both the Fresh and Ambient Food categories reporting annual deflation in July.
Non-food deflation decelerated to 2.2%, from 2.8% the previous month.
"With unpredictable weather and a change to consumer sentiment underway, we have seen retailers cut prices or increase promotional activity in the last few weeks to help top line sales growth, so it is of no surprise that shop price deflation is lower in July than in any other month this year," said Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at Nielsen.
"Once again it is clear there is currently no inflationary pressure coming from retail and discounting looks set to be a catalyst to stimulate demand in the coming months.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
