British Shoppers Start to Focus on Essentials

(Bloomberg) -- British consumers reined in their spending last month as anxiety over Brexit reached fever pitch, according to a survey published Tuesday.

The value of retail sales rose just 0.5 percent compared with February last year and were down 0.1 percent on a same-store basis, the report from the BRC and KPMG showed.

The worse-than-predicted performance hit retailers across the board as shoppers focused on essential items. Furniture sales suffered as unseasonably warm weather shifted spending away from indoor items and food saw only “modest” growth. A fifth of shoppers plan to save on their grocery bills over the coming year.

The survey was carried out between Jan. 27 and Feb. 23 as fears mounted that Britain was course to leave the European Union without a deal.

“While real incomes have started to rise over the past year, shoppers have been reluctant to spend this February,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive officer at the BRC. “This slowdown was not limited to physical stores, with growth in online non-food sales well below the 12-month average.”

Average like-for-like sales growth between December and February was just 0.3 percent, with non-food stores faring the worst, the survey found.

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