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75 per cent sales begin on Christmas Eve
Sri Carmichael and Jonathan Prynn19 Dec 2008
PRICES are to be slashed by up to 90 per cent as retailers battle to survive.
B&Q, one of Britain's biggest chains, announced today it will discount thousands of products by up to 75 per cent from 7am on Christmas Eve.
The DIY group is bringing forward its December sale from Boxing Day for the first time and will offer 50 per cent discounts on all kitchen and bathroom units and their installation.
It came as Superdrug said it would cut prices by up to 90 per cent from Boxing Day. It will sell items for as little as 10p in an unprecedented £40 million bonanza involving 24,000 products.
Gordon Brown today warned that it would be tough for the economy next year but the City would fight back from the recession and enjoy a new age of prosperity.
Experts said the scale and depth of discounting on the high street was now unprecedented. More than two thirds of shops saw sales fall in the first half of the month and footfall this week is down 11.2 per cent on last year.
Neil Saunders, senior retail analyst at Verdict, said: "You walk past virtually every shop and see discounts of at least 50 per cent and there's more to come. This has never been seen on the British high street before and shows how difficult things are for retailers."
He warned that some retailers were using sales as a way of limiting their losses. "The problem is consumers have grown to expect huge bargains and once one retailer starts discounting, the others are under pressure to follow. Many are now trading for survival."
Consumers have already enjoyed an extraordinary stream of pre-Christmas sales at three quarters of Britain's biggest retailers, according to consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Debenhams launched a five-day sale with discounts of up to 50 per cent on Wednesday and House of Fraser and John Lewis responded by marking down prices.
Fashion retailers, including Gap and French Connection, are also selling much of their stock at half price and Marks & Spencer recently announced yet more price cuts of up to 30 per cent.
Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Palii International, said: "All these sales are worrying. People are putting off spending hoping prices will get even lower and that's bad for the economy." David Buik, from BGC partners, said the trend for deep discounts meant many retailers were making no profits.
Jace Tyrrell, spokesman for the New West End Company, which represents traders in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, said discounts of 70 to 80 per cent would be the norm.
He said: "The scale of the discounts will definitely be increased. Shoppers are expecting it, it is definitely a shoppers' market this year."
Selfridges kicks off the West End sales season on Boxing Day followed by the John Lewis Clearance on the 27th.
A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said: "The length of the discounting has been prolonged and it is unusual to see it start so early."
Sir Terence Conran, one of Britain's most experienced retailers, described the parlous state of the high street as "a very worrying situation".
Reader views (8)
It is true Woolworths are displaying upto 50% off signs and inside only giving customers 10% off prices. Technically they are right as upto 50% does not mean everything is 50% off. The problem is most things are still very expensive. I bought highlighters thinking they were cheap, and paid £1.89 for four pens; i was very tempted to take them back...........its ridiculous....they do also display that you cannot get a refund and so you are forced to get someother crap thats left instead. Oh!! and they do not have half the prices up, and when you ask someone on the shop floor for the price they tell you, you have to wait in the extremely long queue to find out as they refuse to use their price guns they used to use on a normal days.... I used to work for woolworths for 6 years I should know their common practices.
Its unfair, customers are mislead into the stores, then when they buy, no refund is allowed................well don't mislead people.........and put the wrong prices on the shelves!! or refuse to give customers prices unless they wait for ages in an ever increasing queue.
Why punish the customers?? Go down with diginity not by mistreating customers who have been loyal for years!
- Jay, Cardiff, 22/12/2008 09:16
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Maybe we need a MAJOR rethink on all of this. Time to integrate being really green with the economy? I cannot see how being green can co-exist with our governments' aims for yearly growth. Surely we NEED this contraction?
And time to tackle population growth too, if the politicians are brave enough..
- Naomi Sajeri, Manchester, 20/12/2008 18:20
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I just got an email from a high street name about their 50% photography sale. trouble was even with the discount things were 40% more than the regular internet prices...
- Zady, London, 19/12/2008 19:55
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Up to 50% discount does not mean 50%. My local woolworths have now changed some of their poster displays from 50% to 60%, every thing must go but most of the items are still only for sale at a 10% discount.
These retail giants have no pity for every day people struggling to pay their bills. Thank goodness for Primark, savers chemists and Poundstretcher.
I've just come back from woolworths hoping to get some cheap christmas lights and an electric heater, i ended up buying what i needed from poundstretcher.
Woolworths might as well give the rest of their stock to their loyal staff who are now joining the dole queue.
- Hiedi, London, 19/12/2008 18:50
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70% -80% discounts doesn't that tell you about how much profit these stores are making. If the stores can offer sales and holiday discounts several times a year why don't they mark their prices down all the time then we might have a little money left over to put in the bank... oh wait a minute, they don't know how to handle money either. Forget it! I'm off to the sales. Byeeee.
- Jon Vickers, SC USA, 19/12/2008 17:47
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The "up to" part of "up to 50% off" is invariably misleading where most discounted items (if you can find them) are reduced by 10% or if you are lucky 20%. Shopkeepers do not do themselves any favours with this ploy and potential customers will get fed up with the "up to's" and more likely enter stores where this does not appear.
- Raymond, London, 19/12/2008 17:45
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For years all these stores have got away with robbing the public in the name of profit - if they only made a reasonable profit instead of grabbing as much as they can the public might now feel sorry for them.
- Kathy Doyle, Westminster, England, 19/12/2008 15:32
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Why do profits have o increase every year. i can only wear one suit at a time. I do not need 20. I am afraid I agree with with the ABC. why cannot we only produce what we need to consume; not what we aretold by bankers and experts. Short term gains look as though hey are now leading to long term loses.
- Simon - Bucharest, bucharest - Romania, 19/12/2008 14:46
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