Retail sales pick up as consumer confidence rises to 'highest level in a year'

[Smith]

8 hours ago, Obiwoncanary said:

This is misleading. We're sending more in cash terms as prices are higher, spending more on less and is a direct consequence of inflation 

Agreed. Everyone seems to miss this. Saying, e.g., that "retail sales are up" because £ spent has increased year-on-year is nonsense. Of course £ spent has increased at current levels of inflation. That's not consumer confidence; it's higher prices.

[BaldED]

12 hours ago, winkie said:

Hopefully now is the time to spend less use any extra income to pay down debt, reduce term, pay into a pension .

Shop differently, holiday differently....cut out the agents where possible.

Save for the next rainy day.....

Been doing this since March 2020. 

Felt like a complete leper while everyone is out laughing chucking ££££s around.

[fellow]

11 hours ago, Obiwoncanary said:

This is misleading. We're sending more in cash terms as prices are higher, spending more on less and is a direct consequence of inflation 

Wrong. Look at the graph in my OP which shows both sales value and volume has increased. This means people spent more and bought more stuff.

The fact there wasn't much divergence this month suggests people spent more on cheaper products, which appears to be confirmed here:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65061870.amp

"Shoppers facing cost-of-living pressures turned to discount and second-hand stores last month, giving retail sales a surprise boost.

Sales volumes rose by 1.2% in February, official figures showed, the biggest monthly gain since October last year".

[winkie]

On 24/03/2023 at 20:35, BaldED said:

Been doing this since March 2020. 

Felt like a complete leper while everyone is out laughing chucking ££££s around.

Should feel invigorated, if others want to spend money like water up to them, free will, they can't then come complaining with cup in hand when they no longer have a pot to piss in.

[Trampa501]

I went in Gail's yesterday, and the place was packed. This was on Baker Street, so I don't know if the people were just tourists, or local office workers. Seems there are various possible explanations

1 (this is what my BH reckons). Prices are high everywhere, so people are deciding to buy quality goods, instead of the cr** that many "cheapo" places offer, except they are not cheapo anymore.

2 People have given up saving and prefer instead to treat themselves

3 People are getting big pay rises and so are better off?

Of course there could be another big reason that I haven't worked out. Any ideas?

[IfWeWereVampires]

1 hour ago, Trampa501 said:

1 (this is what my BH reckons). Prices are high everywhere, so people are deciding to buy quality goods, instead of the cr** that many "cheapo" places offer, except they are not cheapo anymore.

Reminds me of beer logic. £5 for a pint of Carling/Fosters p*ss or £6 for something actually nice? Objectively both are a rip-off, but if you're going to go to the pub at all, you'll have a far nicer time with the latter (well, unless you're only after a percentage, but you'll be sat at home with a four-pack of Special Brew if that's the case).

 

 

[nero120]

On 24/03/2023 at 10:05, Obiwoncanary said:

This is misleading. We're sending more in cash terms as prices are higher, spending more on less and is a direct consequence of inflation 

On 24/03/2023 at 21:12, fellow said:

Wrong. Look at the graph in my OP which shows both sales value and volume has increased. This means people spent more and bought more stuff.

The fact there wasn't much divergence this month suggests people spent more on cheaper products, which appears to be confirmed here:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65061870.amp

"Shoppers facing cost-of-living pressures turned to discount and second-hand stores last month, giving retail sales a surprise boost.

Sales volumes rose by 1.2% in February, official figures showed, the biggest monthly gain since October last year".

Look at the graph again @fellow, you can see that sales volumes have been in a downward trend since April 2021 whilst "value" diverged and has been in an upward trend. So people have been spending more on less - that is inflation. Just because volume has slightly ticked up for the last two months does not change this.

Edited March 29, 2023 by nero120

[fellow]

18 hours ago, nero120 said:

Look at the graph again @fellow, you can see that sales volumes have been in a downward trend since April 2021 whilst "value" diverged and has been in an upward trend. So people have been spending more on less - that is inflation. Just because volume has slightly ticked up for the last two months does not change this.

No you look at the graph again. This thread is about February's figures and the graph shows both value and volume went up together over the last month. It's obvious the graphs have been diverging for months so I was talking about the most recent data.