High streets sales 'down 4.3% on last year'

High street sales took a significant tumble last month, reflecting "damp squib" Black Friday discounting, figures show.

Sales fell 4.3% compared to the same month a year ago, according to the latest figures from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO.

The drop equalled the largest fall in monthly like-for-like sales this year, and retailers would have to look to November 2008 to find a more severe monthly dip beyond this year.

Mixed messages and confusing discounting strategies contributed to a downturn across all sectors, with sales of lifestyle goods down 4% and fashion stores - who were already reeling from the mild autumn weather - seeing sales fall 4.9% on this time last year.

Black Friday analysts have noted that shoppers shunned the high street to spend £1.1 billion online, or £763,000 every minute.

But BDO said even online sales were affected by the spending slowdown, with non-store sales growing by just 15.1% year-on-year.

BDO head of retail and wholesale, Sophie Michael, said the figures painted a "sorry picture" of Christmas trading so far but retailers had cause to be positive.

She said: "Last year's Black Friday caught many stores off-guard, and panic discounting played havoc with stock levels, leading to erosion in margin and reputational damage when websites crashed and logistics went awry.

"This year retailers were far more organised and tried to create a pre-Christmas shopping event that works for the UK shopper, with many extending offers over a number of days rather than just the Friday.

"The net result was a fall in sales against a high base, but retailers may well have protected their margins.

"The anecdotal evidence so far is that, whilst there have been some hiccups, fulfilment has been much smoother than last year, which must be seen as a success."

She added: "Now Black Friday is out of the way, store-owners will be banking on people having money in their pockets to satisfy pent-up demand in December and spark a pre-Christmas rush of festive shopping to end the year on a high."