Last year, poor weather saw consumers fleeing the high street in their droves in an attempt to escape the rain and snow which greatly impacted upon the sales of many retailers. However, it seems that this year the weather has again taken a negative toll on like for like sales, although for completely different reasons.
Summer brought with it sunshine and soaring temperatures, encouraging shoppers to pick up seasonal staples such as swimming costumes, sandals and shorts, yet as the season progressed the warm weather lingered. This has caused many consumers to delay purchases of winter necessities such as coats and scarves, with seasonal retailers now feeling the pinch of a stagnant retail period.
Matalan, for example, has warned that it expects profits to drop by around £18 million for the present financial year despite an increase in spending over the summer. The chain largely believes that this is due to the relatively reliable boom in sales at the start of autumn failing to materialise.
Chief executive Jason Hargreaves, son of founder John Hargreaves, says; “The lateness of the summer heatwave and Indian summer throughout September has tempered the start to autumn trading.
“Throughout the remainder of the season we will be investing in lower prices for customers.”
Although the chain has 217 stores in the UK at present, many are failing to attract customers due to a highly competitive retail scene, with budget stores such as Primark and H&M poaching consumers still wary about excessive spending. This has caused the board to remain highly cautious, forecasting annual profits of between £90 million and £95 million for the current financial year.
Matalan is not alone in admitting to struggling recently, however; even high street powerhouses such as Topshop and department store giant John Lewis have admitted to a disappointing start for their autumn/winter collections. Topshop Philip Green faced a number of tough questions at the recent World Retail Congress in Paris last week with regards to this subject.
He said; “If every retailer was being honest they’d say it’s too warm – we’ve had a month of summer.”
With the weather finally breaking and ushering in autumn temperatures, retailers will be hoping that this will encourage consumers to stock up on winter woollies in the run up to Christmas. However, with many consumers still choosing to reuse and recycle clothing to save the pennies, it may be that fashion retailers will be the ones to lose out this festive season.
Do you tend to buy new clothing as winter approaches, or do you prefer to save for Christmas spending and wear outfits from the previous year?
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