KPMG: retail market still tough
January upswing due to heavy discounting
Trading conditions for retailers are still tough despite figures showing an
upswing in the first week of January, according to KPMG.
KPMG publishes the Retail Sales Monitor in conjunction with the British
Retail Consortium. The January figures showed a leap in sales in the first week
of the month.
KPMG Partner Helen Dickinson puts this down to heavy discounting and
clearance sales stores put on in a bid to clear excess inventories.
She added that it is impossible to tell whether consumer confidence has
returned and that when figures for February are published they will paint a
clearer picture.