Commercial property retailers are building up to one of the most crucial weekends of the year as shoppers are expected to flock to the commercial property grocers in search of party food to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Moneysupermarket.com has projected that weekend spend will come in at £823 million, exceeding the uplift of £480 million attributed to the Royal Wedding weekend last year and providing a welcome boost to consumer spending.
The major commercial property grocers are battling hard for spend using in-store merchandising and promotions to get consumers in the mood to splash out on party food.
Each are taking different strategies, with commercial property supermarket Asda offering £5 off shoppers’ next £40 shop while commercial property grocer Sainsbury’s is offering a platter ordering service to allow customers to collect ready-to-eat party plates of food.
Those with smaller market share, including commercial property supermarkets Waitrose and Iceland, are also expected to succeed given their traditional forte in party and barbeque food.
But will the spending be limited to food? Lead retail analyst at Verdict, Sarah Peters said: “Whatever the weather, food is likely to go up due to parties and the two day bank holiday, but non-food is more uncertain.”
Peters further added: “If the weather is good then people will go out and buy new clothes. DIY and garden retailers are also heavily weather dependent – if the weather is good then they could see a real sales spike.”
Furthermore the division of spend is also interesting. According to Peters, commercial property shops on the high street are expected to enjoy the bulk of the spending, with customers looking to do last minute top-up shops and soaking up the sunshine, socialising outdoors rather than in indoor commercial property shopping centres.
Commercial property retailers should also take a step back and note that, despite the projected sales boost, the Jubilee weekend comes after six weeks of terrible weather that drove customers away from commercial property shops.
Figures issued by the Office for National Statistics last week showed sales growth declined in April to their slowest rate for over two years, while sales volumes fell 1.1 per cent in comparison to last April-the largest fall in sales volumes year on year since August 2011.
Commercial property retailers will largely be fixated on recouping lost sales over the weekend, rather than pushing new growth.
However the final numbers pan out, the Jubilee, Olympics and the European Championships will still offer a unique opportunity to improve consumer sentiment, build ‘Brand Britain’ and educate visiting consumers about the British retail brands which also exist in visitors’ home countries.
Nevertheless, as with everything in the UK, the weather remains a significant, but unpredictable, vital component at the centre of one of the most important periods of 2012.
