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New Year sales figures from Buttercrane Shopping Centre showed that the anticipated shopping rush the last week in December ‘saved’ many retailers and in their Annual Review Buttercrane reports that many retailers experienced positive year on year sales.
Data out last week from the Office of National Statistics shows that small stores experienced higher growth year-on-year than large stores with the amount spent in small stores increasing by 8.1% compared with 2.6% in large stores.
In December 2013, the amount spent in the retail industry increased by 6.1% compared with December 2012 and by 2.6% compared with November 2013.
Buttercrane Centre Manager Peter Murray said: “Applying this in a local context, we can certainly see from our figures that this is true of many of our tenants. Data for December sales performance shows that the anticipated late rush did come, giving retailers a major boost following a fairly flat mid month report.
“The year ended on a fairly positive note and while admittedly there are still challenges - from empty units and online sales - there are a number of positive figures to report,” said Peter.
As per the OSM report, smaller non-food stores are showing growth. Both phones and electrical are performing well in Buttercrane with the mobile in the centre topping their groups for Dec sales; jewellery and perfume sales were also up on last year. One new retailer to the centre achieved 28% above their set target for Nov/December while another fashion retailer reported a double digit increase in sales.
Peter says: “Those that did increase sales have cited a combination of factors including innovative use of multi-channel selling (such as click and collect) enhanced customer service, increase of ROI footfall, offers and social media promotions.
“This is a positive end to a challenging year. For 2014 we are focusing on securing a number of new brands and services and planning events for the centre which will appeal to our local customers and offer ‘more for the family’. We’re also commencing a major upgrade to our toilet facilities next month,” he added.
