Expert Comments As Online Continues To Grow
The fall in retail sales seen in August is likely to continue over the near future, as consumer trends continue to change, an insolvency specialist at Irwin Mitchell has suggested.
New figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research revealed that retail sales fell 0.2 per cent over the month, while in contrast online sales grew by more than 13 per cent over the past 12 months from £383 million to £536 million.
According to reports in the Guardian, some experts have suggested the falling high street sales could be linked to the recent looting which affected many cities across England.
Chris Jones, a Partner and insolvency specialist at Irwin Mitchell, said: “While the rioting may have impacted on many retailers, these latest figures only serve to demonstrate the continuing change we are seeing in consumer trends.
“There is a general shift in which many people – particularly the younger generations – are turning to the internet.
“This is of course taking its toll on many retailers which have a greater reliance on their high street presence – leading many to suffer financial difficulties which have forced them to assess their financial situation and, in some cases, head into administration.
“There have been a number of high-profile casualties affected by such issues and there are few signs that this will change in coming months.”