Boxing Day sales are no more
More and more retailers in the UK are bringing forward their "Boxing Day sales" and in effect offering massive discounts and announcing massive promotions ahead of Christmas day. While it is common knowledge that the UK retail sector has been struggling for some time, each and every retailer in the UK is now trying to squeeze as much money as possible from consumers. We are seeing companies such as H&M, Gap, Warehouse and Oasis already offering 50% discounts on many of their lines.
While profit margins are obviously impacted by these massive price reductions in the short term, of more importance at the moment for many retailers is simple cash flow. The need to basically have enough liquidity within their operations to fund future stock purchases is proving more vital than short-term profitability. However, there is no doubt that we will see a number of well-known companies biting the dust in early 2010 as the banks continue the process of cleanup their own loan books and balance sheets.
It will be interesting to compare the performances of the larger UK retailers such as Debenhams, BHS and Marks & Spencer against some of the smaller niche market players who must be struggling in the current economic climate.
Share this..
Related stories
Who actually controls the UK economy?
Over the last two years we have seen the UK government introduced a number of measures to try and inject more life into the UK economy and indeed bring the country out of recession. Even though the indications are that the UK economy will leave recession in the final quarter of 2009, many people are puzzled as to why it has taken so long for these financial initiatives from the authorities to actu...
Read MoreIs the financial sector the engine room of the UK economy?
Over the last few months the UK government has ploughed billions upon billions of pounds into the UK financial sector as a means to try and kickstart the UK economic revival. So far there has been limited success in this area even though the UK banking sector would appear to be approaching boom times with large bonuses yet again in existence. So is the UK financial sector the engine room of the UK...
Read MoreIs the airline industry set for more turbulence after Flyglobespan collapse?
Yesterday's collapse of Scotland's largest airline, Flyglobespan, came as a surprise to many people and there are now concerns that the sector as a whole could be on the verge of another period of turbulence. While the events at British Airways, where a potential 12 day strike has been threatened, have taken the headlines over the last few weeks there is no doubt that some of the U.K.'s smaller ai...
Read MoreChinese economic slowdown threat to worldwide revival
Despite the fact that the Chinese economy has shown signs of revival over the last few weeks there is growing concern that an economic slowdown could just around the corner and could potentially unravel the worldwide recovery currently underway. The World Economic Forum believes that there is a 20% chance of a serious economic slowdown in China in the short to medium term which could lead to econo...
Read MoreJanuary retail sales worst in 15 years
In a bitter blow for hopes of a strong recovery in the UK economy it has been revealed that retail sales in January were the worst for 15 years. While headline sales increased by 1.2% year-on-year, the lowest increase since the survey began in 1995, actual like for like sales were down 0.7%. This compares to a year on year increase of 6% in December and a like-for-like increase of 4.2%. So what is...
Read More