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Half Term Report
The cost of living squeeze is starting to bite, and there isn’t a day that goes past without negative headlines highlighting the current state of the economy and where it’s heading.
So how have gift retailers found the year so far, and what are their concerns as we move into the second half of 2022?
Thumbs Up... For Now
“The first few months of 2022 have started incredibly well,” confirms Jo Barber, owner of No. 14 Ampthill, Ampthill. “There’s no point making comparisons against previous years, but compared to 2019, it’s going well … really well … for now.
“Valentine’s and Mother’s Day were both well above our forecast and customers are still crazy about making their house a home. Home accessories are flying out, and our best sellers continue to be faux plants and stems, crockery, planters and home fragrance.”
However, Jo says that she is taking nothing for granted. “Each week, I wonder if we’ll start to see changes in shopping habits, as the media are reporting on the cost of living every day, so if customers weren’t feeling cautious, they soon will,” she points out. “And although we haven’t seen a downturn yet, I think it’s only a matter of time. One shift we have seen though, is perceived value. Customers now deliberate more over price, and the £29.99 handbag is starting to win over the usual £39.99 best seller. They’re also gravitating towards greeting cards that retail under the £3 price point and candles at under £15.”
Continues Jo: “I recently visited one of my top suppliers to view their Autumn/Winter range and gasped at some of the prices. I couldn’t justify ordering a number of their larger items, and those I did order were in more sensible quantities compared to previous years. Usually, I place large orders with my suppliers as it saves me time and it means we always have a decent level of stock. However, looking ahead, I think it would be wise to order little and often. It will mean more work, but also, I won’t miss out on special offers and promotions.”
Left: No 14 Ampthill, Ampthill.
What The Figures Reveal
The latest figures from the retail sales monitor published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG revealed that spending on the high street dipped by 0.3% in April following a sharp decrease in consumer confidence as household budgets became more stretched.
“As hard as the economy is for everyone at the moment, with everything going up - including all our prices, import charges etc - we aren’t seeing a major downturn,” states Rachel Roberts, owner of Wishlist in Rayleigh. “I think people are very much supporting independents like Wishlist, and shopping/staying close to home. Customers want unique, fun, colourful, meaningful gifts and cards and love newness and variety.”
As she explains: “At the beginning of the year, we didn’t have a massive sale, mainly because Christmas was so good. We continue to push on social platforms, as WFH still means people are forever checking up on exciting new products and news. And our own exciting news is that we are expanding and opening another store very soon! Therefore, so far, ‘shop small’ continues to thrive!”
Above: Wishlist, Rayleigh.
Seeing New Customers
“To a degree, trade has been a little subdued since the start of the year, but this time last year were not even open for the first three months due to Covid, so we are certainly in a much better place than then!” comments Liz Kemp, owner of Kemps General Store & Bookshop.
“However, as the first quarter is always the slowest season, it is impossible to fully understand if this trading is due to the economic climate and worries or merely the usual seasonal trend.
“The good thing for us is that, since moving to larger premises and adding a full on bookshop to our offer in October 2020, we have found that our turnover has more than met our extra costs and driven more footfall and new customers. We are transacting the same number of gift sales, but our average transaction has reduced by around 10%. Book sales to date remain stable. However, we have noticed that we are taking far more cash than credit cards so people are clearly budgeting and managing their money carefully.”
Above: Kemps General Store & Bookshop.
Strong Visitor Footfall
“Like many retailers, we’ve been pegging our first quarter sales against like for like dates in 2019 given that we were in lockdown during in 2020 and 2021,” explains
Helen Crawford, Old School
Beauly, Beauly. “One high point, and welcome surprise, is that we have solid, ongoing support from our local customers, many of whom we engaged with via social media during lockdown. However, the icing on the cake is the continuing significant footfall from visitors. Taken together, our turnover is significantly increased which is great news, as we firmly believe in the unique power, value and attraction of bricks and mortar retail.”
Adds Helen: “Like others, we’re still grappling with supply chain and price concerns, but we’re doing our level best to keep a cap on that where possible. Many people are prepared to spend that bit extra for quality, and we are firmly in that ‘quality’ segment of the retail market. We are still seeing significant numbers of staycation visitors when compared to pre-covid. Therefore, so far, we think that any downturn in spend due to the cost of living crisis is more than compensated for in terms of our significantly increased visitor footfall.”
Above: Helen Crawford is shown outside The Old School Beauly, Beauly.
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Pretty Steady
“At the start of the year January and February were OK, so business started fairly positively, but dipped a bit in March with the cost of living news and the war in Ukraine,” explains Cathy Frost, owner of LoveOne in Ipswich. “Fortunately, things picked up a bit over Easter and have remained pretty steady ever since.”
Cathy says that at the moment it feels like business as usual. “However, we are having more conversations with customers about their fears over what is coming later in the year,” she confirms. “People are adjusting to energy prices and walking more, but once it gets cold again, and people need to use the car to get about, they are fearful. This worries me as we are now committing to our Christmas stock.”
Below: Cathy Frost outside LoveOne in Ipswich.
Mixed Bag
“The year started slowly for us, however it always does so nothing new there,” states Jon May, co-owner of Mooch Gifts & Home in
Bewdley and Stourport.
“Valentine’s always kicks off our year, followed by Mother's Day, and while our trading figures remain consistent with previous years, we are finding people are leaving these events to the very last minute to make their purchases. Nevertheless, our Bewdley store recorded its best-ever day sales on the Mother's Day Saturday in our six years trading there, so we were absolutely thrilled with that result. Unfortunately, however, flooding locally had a huge impact on sales, with customers unable to access the high street.”
With regard to the cost of living crisis, Jon comments: “we have seen our sales focus change from home to gift, but to date have not seen a fall in sales to date, with tourists still spending, so we remain cautious for the remaining part of the year where our focus will be on affordable quality gifts for Christmas.
“Along with many other retailers, we can now say our busiest days are very unpredictable, with a shift from Saturday being one of our busiest days to Mondays or Tuesdays becoming as busy if not busier.”
