Like-for-like average store turnover grew by 0.7% when compared with November last year, amidst subdued footfall which declined again (-3.5%). Scotland outperformed all other regions. Average store turnover in Scottish shops increased by 3.8%, with footfall decline registered at 2.3%.

November: What's up and what's down?

At top level, only alcohol (+2.4%), household, personal care and healthcare (+1.6%), and soft drinks (+1%) continued to grow when analysed against figures from November 2018. Fireworks sales - expected to lift purchases and serve as November's highlight - fell some 34% short of 2018's average convivence store sales. However, it's not all doom and gloom. Stores that had invested in hot food-to-go offers did benefit from a cold and rainy November. Average sales grew by 9.1% year-on-year for the likes of sausage rolls, bacon & cheese turnovers, and Rollover Hot Dogs. Overall, the average sales uplift expected throughout the festive fourth quarter has proven somewhat disappointing so far. Average store turnover in October was only 0.8% higher than the January-September monthly average. In contrast, November ranked 3.3% lower than the monthly average. Chilled food, confectionery, ambient groceries and snacks performed the worst: the average sales decline in these categories was 5-6% lower than in November last year.

Year-On-Year Casualties

There were further casualties upon scrutinising the year-on-year figures for January through November 2019.  News and magazines (-6.1%), pet products (-0.9%), and tobacco (-5.0%) all dropped. Frozen food  took a slight dive, selling fewer units (-2.3%) with overall sales down some 0.9%. Total turnover for all combined categories found a total drop of 1% when it boiled down to unit sales. However, basket spend increased 2.5% and sales value lifted 0.7%. Want more information on our data, or to find sales figures from previous months? Get in touch with our data team via our contact form. For information on October's best selling new products, check out last month's investigation here. To discover more about The Retail Data Partnership and ShopMate, click here.

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