High street retailers are pinning their hopes on a Christmas trading boost after a slump following a dismal Budget for the sector.
As stores reel from Rachel Reeves’ decision to burden the industry with £7billion of extra costs, bumper trading during Black Friday and the festive period is critical this year, experts have warned.
It follows a fall in numbers visiting shops in November as customers held out for discounting amid post-Budget ‘spending jitters’.
The sector is braced for higher costs from next year after the Chancellor hiked employer National Insurance Contributions and granted an inflation-busting minimum wage increase.
Squeezed: As stores reel from Rachel Reeves’ Budget, bumper trading during Black Friday and the festive period is critical this year, experts have warned
And Reeves has come under pressure to urgently reform business rates to offset other costs after failing to address the property tax in her first Budget last month.
Major retailers including M&S, John Lewis and Boots have said shops will close, jobs disappear and prices rise, an issue that has been highlighted by the Mail’s Save Our High Streets campaign.
In a further blow to the sector the number of shoppers fell 4.5 per cent in November, from 1.1 per cent in October.
High street shoppers fell by 3.7 per cent, retail parks by 1.1 per cent and shopping centres by 6.1 per cent, says the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
That creates even more pressure to attract customers over Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas.
Retail consultant Andy Sumpter said: ‘Store visits dipped as consumer confidence remains volatile, perhaps not helped by post-Budget spending jitters and shoppers withholding festive purchases
‘This lacklustre footfall performance will have come as a blow for many retailers, who would have been counting on getting early Christmas trading results under their belts.’
‘All eyes turn to December, where retailers hope to make up for lost ground and turn around their festive fortunes.’
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘If the Government wishes to bolster footfall and the growth and investment that would come with it, it must help retailers mitigate the impact of £7billion additional costs they face from next year.’
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