Retail sales disappointing for Q1 2012, according to REI
Retail sales continued to disappoint during the first quarter of 2012, according to Retail Excellence Ireland’s (REI) Irish Retail Industry Performance Review Q1 2012.
The quarter ended on a positive note however, as retail sales in March recorded a year-on-year increase compared with March 2011, only the second year-on-year monthly increase seen since 2008.
Overall, year-on-year sales levels fell by an average of -2.56% during the first quarter of 2012, REI said.
This was a decline from the Q4 2011 sales figure of -1.58% and continued the trend of falling sales in Ireland’s retail industry.
Q1 2012 become the 12th consecutive quarter of consecutive sales decline.
January proved to be the most challenging month of the quarter, with sales falling by -4.72% year-on-year.
February saw a slight improvement, with Irish retailers reporting a fall of only -1.68%. The quarter finished in March with an encouraging increase in average sales levels for the industry of +0.73% compared with March 2011.
“The 2% VAT increase to 23% has made retailing difficult and makes it hard to achieve last year’s targets," commented REI Chief Executive Officer David Fitzsimons
"Constant negative media commentary surrounding household charges and water charges is worsening consumer sentiment”.
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