Kantar report: Same-store sales get big lift, thanks to promotions

Columbus, Ohio -- Kantar Retail said Thursday that same-store sales got a big lift to 6% growth in November from a strong promotional environment, as well as from an easy year-ago comparison period and shifting shopper spending intentions.



The sales-weighted composite for the 30 retailers reporting -- most of them apparel retailers -- was better than the 1.7% same-store sales gain last month and the 0.9% gain in November of 2009 for the same measure. (The calculations don’t include Walmart, which stopped reporting monthly results in April 2009.)



"Shoppers have been shaking off their recent cautiousness about spending and any last doubts may have been removed by all the great deals that came early and often in November,” said Frank Badillo, senior economist, Kantar Retail. “The rest of the holiday looks positive given shoppers’ spending plans, but they will no doubt be looking for more big promotions to sustain this kind of spending pace.”



According to Kantar Retail’s ShopperScape survey, the strong November same-store sales results may be getting support from shopper spending intentions. In November, the percentage of shoppers planning to spend less in the coming month compared with the same period a year ago edged lower for the second month in a row, and slightly more shoppers are planning to spend more in the coming month. The percentage of shoppers planning to spend about the same as last year held steady.



Spending plans for the rest of the holiday shopping season continue to suggest that it will be a better holiday than last year, according to the survey. In November, 49% of shoppers planned to spend about the same on holiday gifts as last year, which is seven percentage points higher than the same time last year.



The percentage of shoppers planning to spend less on holiday gifts was 36%, which is seven percentage points lower than the same time last year. The percentage of shoppers planning to spend more held steady at 9%.



Online retailers are expected to benefit most from shoppers’ holiday spending plans. More than half (54%) of shoppers plan to shop online, which is 10 percentage points above last year. Among the other retailers seeing growing shopper interest in their online offers are traditional department stores, value department stores and warehouse clubs.