Health and beauty bucks lacklustre July sales trend
Business July sales saw "relatively strong performance" despite a disappointing results for retail as a whole, accountancy firm KPMG has reported.
Health and beauty sales in July were up on last year, despite a "lacklustre" performance in retail overall, accountancy firm KPMG has reported.
In its monthly sales monitor published in collaboration with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the accountants reported a "relatively strong performance" in toiletries and cosmetics sales. This came despite little growth in the retail sector overall, with like-for-like sales up by just 0.1 per cent compared to July 2011.
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Made up: health and beauty sales bucked the trend in retail sales |
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The report said that, while wet weather had stifled demand for goods such as outdoor gear, it had increased sales of bronzer. And it attributed the growth in fragrances and cosmetics sales to promotional activity. The figures only covered the opening couple of days of the Olympic games, but KPMG said retailers may have had unrealistic expectations of sales this month. "Early expectations that the Olympics would raise retailers' fortunes look wide of the mark," said Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG. "Central London's retailers are already being hit hard by shoppers actively avoiding the capital, and it's likely that any benefit the games bring will be short-lived." |
Category Focus: skincare Ms Dickinson said the sales figures were "indicative of the true underlying trend". "These show weakness in sentiment as disposable incomes remain squeezed, despite the fall in headline inflation," she explained. "It's a real challenge for retailers to grow sales and many are only achieving this at the expense of margins."
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