New year sales figures from Buttercrane Shopping Centre showed that an anticipated shopping rush in the last week in December may have saved many retailers. Figures released recently by the Office of National Statistics show small stores experienced higher growth year on year than large stores with the amount spent in small stores increasing by 8.1 per cent compared with 2.6 per cent in large stores. In December 2013 the amount spent in the retail industry increased by 6.1 per cent compared with December 2012 and by 2.6 per cent compared with November 2013. Buttercrane Manager Peter Murray said, “Applying this in a local context we can certainly see from our figures that this is true of many of our tenants. Data for December Sales performance shows that the anticipated last minute rush late December had come giving retailers a major boost following a fairly flat mid month report. The year ended on a fairly positive note and while admittedly there are still challenges faced from vacant units and on-line sales there are a number of positive figures in our report.” Buttercrane’s own figures show that phone stores were top for sales performance in December while Jewellery and perfume sales were also up. One new retailer of the centre achieved 28 per cent over there target in November and December while another fashion retailer reported a double digit increase in sales. Those that did increase sales citied a combination of factors including innovative use of multi-channel selling (such as click and collect) enhanced customer service, increase of ROI footfall offers and social media promotions. This is a positive end to a challenging year. For 2014 we are focusing on securing a number of new brands and services and planning events which will appeal to our local customers and offer more for the family,” Mr Murray added.
Newry Democrat
28th January 2014
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