The retail outlook

Peck, Frank ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1976-154X (2017) The retail outlook. In Cumbria Magazine, 2017 (Dec). p. 19.

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Abstract

Professor Frank Peck of the University of Cumbria’s Centre for Regional Economic Development writes for in-Cumbria on the big issues of the day and the economic data behind them. This month, he focuses on Cumbria’s retailing sector. December is a big month for retailers. It is fair to say that retailers continue to live through a period of extraordinary change. The challenges include, on the one hand, seismic shifts in consumer behaviour involving use of mobile technology while on the other, increasing uncertainty arising from debates surrounding Brexit and consumers’ perceptions of their future job prospects. In this context, there is much speculation about the outlook for retailing over the Christmas period and beyond. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met in early November 2017 and noted that “recent indicators of consumption had been mixed”. Retail sales volumes had fallen in September, but risen over the third quarter as a whole. Other surveys appeared to indicate a recent fall in retail volumes though consumer confidence was reported to have recovered slightly in October. The Office for National Statistics has recently released data comparing October 2017 with the same month in the previous year. Overall, sales value for this month is up by over 2.5 per cent though sales volume in slightly down, the difference largely accounted for by a rise in average store prices.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	In Cumbria Magazine
Publisher:	CN Group
Departments:	Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED)
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	15 Mar 2018 17:19
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2024 18:45
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3677

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