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Consumers continue to decrease their spending in retail stores in the United Kingdom.
The British Retail Consortium, a UK association responsible for sales data, has released its report on major retail stores and shopping centers for February 2018. The report showed that transactions in retail stores recorded a 1.1 percent decline, which follows a 1.2 percent decline back in January. The report also showed that spending on clothes and footwear went down by 1.6 percent, and spending on household items went down by 1.1 percent.
Several factors are believed to have contributed to the consumer spending decline in UK retail stores this year. Inflation in the country outran wage increases and deprived many shoppers of the money they would have used for shopping. Online businesses also continue to take customers from retail stores, with online spending up by 0.2 percent and in-person buying down 2.5 percent. People are also starting to prefer spending money on technology, leisure activities, and food, instead of retail store products.
Major UK stores are closing because of the decline in consumer spending. Among them is Multiyork, a furniture company in the UK that has more than 500 employees in 50 shops nationwide. In November last year, Multiyork went into administration, which is when court- or bank-appointed administrators take over the business. Shoppers were hesitant to buy Multiyork’s pricey furniture, placing the company in dire straits. By the end of 2016, the company’s debt had reached £1.9 million. With the company deep in the red, it opted to go into administration instead.