Thaindian News

London, Jan 27 (IANS) Britain’s retail sales fell in January as shoppers reined in spending, a survey showed.

According to the latest monthly survey report issued Thursday by the Confederation of British Industry, retail sales fell in January after modest growth in December, and sales were considered poor for the time of the year.

The survey covering the first two weeks in January showed 44 percent of retailers saw sales volumes fall compared with a year earlier, while 22 percent reported a rise, reported Xinhua.

“Shoppers have reined in spending across the board at the start of the New Year after taking advantage of early discounting in the last month of 2011, which boosted pre-Christmas sales,” said the organisation’s chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty.

McCafferty said family budgets were under continuing pressure with inflation still high and wage increases modest.

“Consumers are still holding off particularly from buying big ticket items like washing machines and fridges. Online and mail order sales were the only areas that performed well in January, but growth was still down last month,” he said.

The report said there was a mixed picture across the sub-sectors, but with most reporting a fall in sales volumes year on year.

Retail sales of durable household goods dropped by 100 percent, the biggest among various sectors.

But the non-store category, which includes online and mail-order sales, performed well with sales increasing by 50 percent.