Snow makes retail sales slide in February

London, March 10: Heavy snow played spoilsport as British retailers saw sales plunge again in February. The fall in sales was also attributed to cessation of the enormous discounts and freebies offered to the customers during the New Year period. All in all, the probable consumers remained jammed indoors.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a leading industry lobby group, the like-for-like sales fell by 1.8 percent in February vis-à-vis last year. The like-for-like sales, which exclude new stores and space, have fallen for practically all months in the last one year.

The month of January was an exception when sales rose by 1.1 percent. The BRC’s director-general, Stephen Robertson, has, however, termed this increase in sales to be an aberration. He said, "It's now clear we were right to fear January's surprise year-on-year sales rise was just a discount-driven blip."

The total sales, which do include new stores and space, in fact grew by 0.1 percent in February. Again, in January, the increase stood at a healthy 3.2 percent. On a product to product basis, the snow stood retailers in good stead for the sale of shovels, Wellington boots, duvets and toiletries. The big-ticket items were badly hit too.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors revealed that although the willingness to buy a house increased in the wake of falling house prices, the demand failed to perk up due to the sluggish mortgage finance market.

RICS' spokesman Jeremy Leaf said, "Potential buyers continue to come through estate agency doors but without mortgage finance, transaction levels are likely to remain close to all time lows."

Referring to the increase in the interest rates for the fourth consecutive month, Leaf said, "Without further intervention the housing market will continue to stagnate and the opportunity to take advantage of this renewed interest could be lost which will inevitably have serious implications for the wider economy."

The BRC has pushed for an extension in the VAT reduction and solidifying business rates to help the sector sail through the ruthless economic conditions.