Mixed results for UK retailers as December fails to match November online sales

It is indeed challenging times for clothing and food retailers in the UK these past six months or so, with political uncertainties and depreciating British Pound due to Brexit impacting on confidence and price inflation, not to mention the ever-changing dynamics of consumer shopping habits.

This week the market sees a mixed bag of post-Christmas results from retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Boohoo and Tesco.  According to customer engagement experts Optimove, the landscape of retail around the Christmas period is changing rapidly, with ill-planned discounting strategies hitting hard in a lean holiday season.

Pini Yakuel, CEO of Optimomve, comments: “Customers are beginning to buy online earlier in the Christmas and holiday period.  According to our analysis of customers in the festive season, total order amounts were 32% higher in November than December.

“The growing popularity of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are attracting large orders, but instead of increasing overall sales, this might encourage shoppers to make December purchases earlier at a lower price than they would without the discounts. This December saw a 10% lower order total than in 2016.

“Although heavy discounting can bring in more customers in one instance, retailers must be sure that this adds real value to overall annual revenue. We have found that heavy discounts of more than 30 per cent do not usually encourage customers to make a second purchase from the brand later in the year, unless it is a similarly discounted product.[1] While one-off sales provide some value, brands must focus on getting customers to keep returning to the brand to provide lifetime value."

More on UK Christmas 2017 retail sales analysis, click HERE.