There is a negative sales growth both in store and online, compared to a poor performance in November 2023, when overall sales declined 0.3 per cent, said BDO’s report.

The country’s online sales across fashion, homeware, and lifestyle categories fell by 7.8 per cent, the lowest since March 2022. In-store sales across the country also dropped 5.5 per cent, the worst result since February 2021, with the fashion sector recording particularly poor figures of -8.0 per cent compared to November 2023, reflecting significant challenges across all retail channels. Whilst the company might have expected extreme weather conditions in November to impact in-store sales, online sales were usually less negatively impacted by poor weather, explained BDO.

“These results are disastrous for the retail sector, with just one more month of the so-called ‘Golden Quarter’ left. Despite the hype around events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we have seen heavy and prolonged discounting throughout most of November, but this has failed to get consumers spending,” said Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO.

“All retailers and particularly those operating within the discretionary spend category, will face an even tougher first quarter in 2025 should this sales trajectory continue into the final weeks of this year. The industry has been very vocal about the detrimental impact that some of the measures announced in the Autumn Budget will have on their cashflow and on their bottom line from next Spring. The industry is calling on the government to take note and work with the sector and its supply chain to alleviate some of the upcoming heavy burdens as it looks ahead to a very rocky 2025” added Michael.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)