Wrong type of weather knocks high street

Graham_Devon

Wrong type of sun, see.

Was a couple of degrees too warm for shopping.

Today the breeze has got up a little, so expect next months figures to be down, and the whole of winter to be down when we get the wrong type of drizzle.

September's unseasonably warm weather was bad news for the UK's retailers, as people were more interested in enjoying the sunshine than going shopping, a report has said.

Like-for-like sales were down 4% last monthcompared with a year earlier, according to accountancy group BDO.

It said this was the sharpest fall since March 2009.

BDO added that fashion stores were the most affected, as there was little interest in their new winter lines.

"Rather than stock up on cardigans and coats, consumers largely avoided the High Street in favour of a final few days of sun," said BDO.

It added that the combination of the hot weather, a lack of promotional deals, and economic gloom had created something of a "perfect storm" for the High Street, and fashion retailers in particular.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15236463

Just one thing...

Does anyone actually remember any unseasonably warm September weather? I had to put the heating on. Start of October was rather splendid though.

nearlynew

More spin and bullsh1t.

Mallotum_X

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Just one thing...

Does anyone actually remember any unseasonably warm September weather? I had to put the heating on. Start of October was rather splendid though.

Lol yep, September seemed a bit normal, early september was cruddy, it was Early October when we had the heatwave!

Oh well, maybe September wasnt hot enough, thats what they meant.

DervProf

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Wrong type of sun, see.

Wrong type of economy, more like.

If their equity ain't increasing, they ain't spendin'. That's the trouble with an economy so dependent upon the property market, if prices aren't rising, people think they're poorer.

Graham_Devon

Mallotum_X wrote: »

Lol yep, September seemed a bit normal, early september was cruddy, it was Early October when we had the heatwave!

Oh well, maybe September wasnt hot enough, thats what they meant.

Glad it wasn't just me.

Seems the rush to blame the weather and ignore everything that actually counts has had them a little confused.

Ahh well, they can always change it later, and suggest that there was the threat of a Thunderstorm somewhere in the UK sometime in September, which put shoppers off the high street.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Another Graham thread knocking the concept that unusual weather can impact high street sales.

Whereas the reality is rather different.

Weather has a major effect on business in the retail, hospitality, leisure, health, energy, and transport sectors to name just a few. Sometimes it's positive, sometimes negative.

Often there is little net loss or gain because some lose whilst others win, but on some occasions it's overwhelmingly negative, such as the major snow events last year.

Here's an example of how weather can radically change sales levels within just one business.

Britain often conjures images of unpredictable weather, with downpours sometimes followed by sunshine within the same hour — several times a day.

Such randomness has prompted Tesco, the country’s largest grocery chain, to create its own weather team in hopes of better forecasting temperatures and how consumer demand changes with them. After three years of research, the six-person team has created its own software that calculates how shopping patterns change “for every degree of temperature and every hour of sunshine,” Tesco said last month.

Tesco expects the team’s forecasts to help it reduce costs and avoid wasting food.

Supermarkets that stock meat and other barbecue items in anticipation of sunshine are often left with unsold food if the weather turns out rainy and cold instead. A temperature increase of 18 degrees (fahrenheit) generally triples sales of barbecue meat and increases demand for lettuce by 50 percent, Tesco said.

“Rapidly changing weather can be a real challenge,” Jonathan Church, a Tesco spokesman, said in a statement. “The system successfully predicted temperature drops during July that led to a major increase in demand for soup, winter vegetables and cold-weather puddings.”

Energy companies, the National Health Service and the aviation industry also use weather forecasts to prepare for demand for their services.

Tesco’s new software is based on the weather and shopping patterns of 12 British regions over the last three years.

British supermarkets were caught short on some products last month when temperatures fell below the predictions of many forecasters, including that of the Met Office, Britain’s national weather service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/global/02weather.html

CLAPTON

seems that shops need to buy stuff ahead so they have it in stock when required
seems that the type of clothing bought depends upon the time of year and the weather and fashion and how much money people have
often unsold seasonal stuff doesn't sell later

rocket science

WestonDave

Last week of September was pretty good, which than ran on into first 3 days of October - by Tuesday 4th October we were fairly near back to normal.

However this is really a case of searching the Titanic for leaks in the roof - most other factors in this retail performance are dwarfed by the fact that we are all skint and/or hoarding cash for essentials. On that basis fewer of us are going out buying overpriced tat simply because it has some hyped logo on it.

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Another Graham thread knocking the concept that unusual weather can impact high street sales.

It's not really though is it.

Where have I knocked it? I've taken the pee, because where was this unseasonably warm weather in September?

It was the start of this month. We broke records. September was just a bit rubbishy.

I'm knocking the desperation of these articles to ignore the real factors.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

CLAPTON wrote: »

seems that the type of clothing bought depends upon the time of year and the weather

And if you have 10 days of summer weather in autumn, you lose a significant percentage of your sales of winter clothes for the month.

Not on the level of the weeks of snow chaos we had last year, which were a big hit to GDP, but enough to be noticeable on the retail stats.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I've taken the pee, .

And you did it repeatedly about the snow as well.

This glib attitude you have to weather related impacts just makes you look a bit silly. Anyone that works in any business which sells goods or services to the public knows full well how big an impact weather can have on sales.

Even the NHS uses weather to predict big changes in demand for services, as you should know.