Trade Resources Economy May Has Seen Shop Price Deflation Remain Unchanged at 1.4 Per Cent

May Has Seen Shop Price Deflation Remain Unchanged at 1.4 Per Cent

Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said, “May has seen shop price deflation remain unchanged at 1.4 per cent, the thirteenth consecutive month of deflation."

Highlights:
-Thirteenth consecutive month in May, remaining unchanged at 1.4% from April.
-Food inflation remained unchanged at 0.7% from April – the lowest ever recorded.
-Non-food reported annual accelerated deflation of 2.8% in May from 2.7% in April.
-Non-food has reported deflation for the fourteenth consecutive month

Shop Price Inflation Annual % Change
Clothing & Footwear
May experienced a rise in the level of deflation in the Clothing and Footwear category reaching 11.4% from 11.3% in April. All sub categories experienced deflation in May with children’s and woman’s clothing above the category average. Footwear, children’s clothing, men’s clothing and baby clothing all experienced accelerated deflation. Deflation in May was below the three month average of 11.8% but above the 12 month average of 10.2%.

Helen Dickinson adds, “We’ve also past the fourteenth consecutive month of non-food deflation, mainly as the result of good bargains in categories popular with consumers in summer months such as clothing and footwear. Value was also a mainstay across the gardening and DIY categories, as retailers competed to cater for strong demand over the May Bank Holiday.

“Food inflation remaining at its lowest level since our records began is great news for hard-pressed households as the summer approaches, and confirms that retailers are responding to current conditions by matching attractive offers with those products most in demand at this time of the year.

“Further evidence that consumer confidence is steadily improving was picked up by the GfK index which is now at a nine year high. The everyday low prices offered by retailers have clearly played a role in the rise of household spending. 

“With the World Cup fast approaching I would expect retailers to continue to keep prices down for the foreseeable future”.

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, Nielsen, said: “Food inflation is still low, many supermarkets are price cutting and non-food prices remain deflationary, so the high street continues to generate little inflationary pressure. Little in the way of immediate seasonal or weather related price increases is anticipated so the outlook for the next three months is for relatively stable shop price inflation. Helped by the increases in consumer confidence since the start of the year, this should encourage shoppers to spend more freely over the summer months."

The BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index (SPI) reported annual deflation of 1.4% unchanged from April, falling below the twelve month average rate of 0.8%. Food inflation remained at 0.7% from April, the lowest recorded since the series began in December 2006 while non-food deflation accelerated to 2.8% from 2.7% in April.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/Association-news/british-retail-consortium/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=164152
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Deflation Level of Clothing Segment Remains Stable in May