Outlook for retailers remains fragile despite Black Friday boost for takings

● Official figures suggest stores received a welcome lift from November’s event

Black Friday drew in shoppers last month despite the squeeze on household incomes as official figures yesterday revealed a better-than-expected performance on the UK high street.

Sales in November were up 1.6 per cent on the same month last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), despite the double whammy of rising inflation and muted wage growth.

Three-month figures, which smooth out short-term fluctuations, also showed growth with the quantity of goods bought nudging up by 0.8 per cent.

Household stores had a particularly strong November with sales up 2.9 per cent, boosting the monthly increase in the quantity bought across all stores to 1.1 per cent, compared with the month before.

Retailer feedback suggested that Black Friday events contributed to the monthly increase for household goods stores, with electrical household appliances making the largest contribution to the growth.

The growth comes as average store prices increased by 3.1 per cent compared with November last year, with food stores having the largest rise since September 2013, at 3.6 per cent.

ONS senior statistician Rhian Murphy said: “Underlying retail sales growth remained reasonably strong in the last few months. Household goods stores had a good November, with a number of businesses saying that Black Friday promotions boosted sales.”

Euan Murray, relationship director at Barclays Corporate Banking Scotland, described it as a “really good result for the industry”, but warned that it was still a “very tricky time” for retailers.

“It’s only when we get to postchristmas numbers that we’ll properly be able to assess how the sector has performed, and it will also take some time for the true impact of Black Friday on retailers’ margins to become clear,” he noted.

“But that shouldn’t detract from what the industry has achieved. Electrical appliances in particular proved popular around Black Friday and clothing also delivered some fairly strong growth during November.”

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor at the EY Item Club, said: “Consumer confidence is fragile with shoppers concerned not only about the squeeze on their purchasing power but also the economic situation and outlook.

“Consumers have also seemingly been unsettled by the Bank of England interest rate hike in November,” he added, pointing to falling consumer confidence levels.