IMPROVED OUTLOOK
Clothing sector to unzip retail sales growth
While figures suggest signs of recovery, the spoils have not trickled down to all clothing retailers
Analysts are upbeat about the clothing-retail sector’s outlook for 2018 even though some struggled to lift volumes significantly on Black Friday and during the festive season. The festive season and Black Friday are the busiest trading periods for clothing retailers, but some missed the mark and failed to attract consumers to spend more at their stores. Figures released on Wednesday showed South African retail sales jumped 8.2% year on year in November and 4% monthly, the biggest margin since 2012. Although the acceleration was driven by higher sales in the textile sector, which climbed 12.4% year on year from 5.6% in the previous month, and a rise in sales of household furniture and appliances 14.1% year on year, the boost did reflect in the volume growth of value retailers such as Mr Price. Mr Price reported an 8.3% increase in third-quarter sales on Wednesday. Its total retail sales were R6.6bn for the three months to end-December, buoyed by the retailer’s core clothing division,...
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