Figures released today are expected to confirm that high street sales fell again last month after a similar fall in the previous month. ONS data confirmed that sales in September fell by 0.4%, reducing annual growth to under 2% from a figure of 3.3% in August.
The boom in high street sales has largely been fueled by borrowing on credit cards and store cards, however in light of the current economic crisis, more consumers are having difficulty obtaining the credit necessary to increase sales growth. Furthermore, larger numbers are having difficulty making repayments on their cards, and loans, and are falling into financial hardship, requiring debt advice, IVA’s or other debt help schemes.
In a bid to boost sales, many retailers have announced sales before Christmas, including Evans, Debenhams and M&S.
