Retail sales declined by an annual 1.0% on a like-for-like basis, which strips out changes in store size, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said. Payments company Barclaycard also reported weak consumer spending, with a split between spending on essentials and spending on discretionary items. "The decline was driven by the worst performance of non-food sales since our record began in January 2011," said Helen Dickinson, BRC's chief executive. "The growth in food sales, meanwhile, adds some colour to this otherwise anaemic picture, but these figures are very much buoyed by inflation." Barclaycard's measure of consumer spending growth eased to 2.4% year-on-year, compared with an increase of 3% in September.

Source: Bangkok Post November 07, 2017 11:15 UTC