Unemployment, debt extend poor run of retail sales
Retail trade sales decreased 1.7% year on year in February to R58.58bn from R59.5bn a year earlier
High unemployment, increased household debt and persistently depressed consumer confidence led to a continuation of the weak retail sales trend in February. Retail trade sales decreased 1.7% year on year this February to R58.58bn from R59.5bn in February 2016. The biggest negative contributor to the subdued performance came from the retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods whose sales dropped 7.6%. Kantar Retail consultant analyst Sébastien Delsemme said the sector was down but retailers were using data to understand shoppers to survive in the “tough retail environment”. Consumers were struggling to overcome cash-flow constraints and “unemployment is up as opposed to a few years ago”, said Delsemme. “We are not predicting too much growth. It [previous growth forecasts were] based on inflation expectations under [former finance minister] Pravin Gordhan but it is [now] difficult to say. We are expecting 3%-5% growth because of price increases,” he said. Economists s...
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