DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5
Retail

UK Retailers Stepped Up Their Discounting In August, BRC Says

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
UK Retailers Stepped Up Their Discounting In August, BRC Says

British retailers discounted their goods a bit more aggressively in August than in July as they sought to get customers back after the coronavirus lockdown earlier in the year, industry data showed on Wednesday.

Average shop prices in August were 1.6% lower than a year before, compared with a fall of 1.3% in July and a record 2.4% tumble in May, the British Retail Consortium said.

August's fall was driven by bigger price declines of 3.4% for non-food prices, compared with a 2.9% drop in July.

'Promotions And Sales'

"Many retailers have continued to run promotions and sales in order to entice customers to spend and make up for lost ground during lockdown," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.

The availability of fresh, seasonal produce allowed food inflation to ease to 1.3% in August, down from 1.5% in July, Dickinson said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Figures from the Confederation of British Industry, published last week, showed an unexpected weakening of retail sales in the first half of August, raising concerns that a bounce-back in consumer spending after the lockdown might be short-lived.

The BRC shop prices survey was conducted between 3 August and 7 August.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.