High Street Sales Tracker

One of the country's most closely followed retail industry barometers
The Times


The BDO High Street Sales Tracker outlines the weekly sales changes of more than 85 retailers with some 10,000 individual stores. These are mainly located on high streets throughout the UK. As such it provides a very good indication of underlying trading conditions without the distorting effect of large grocery based retailers, as well as changes in retail capacity.

The results are closely followed by industry and city analysts, while retailers use the results to benchmark performance.

This confidential, weekly exchange of like for like sales results between retailers, provides busy retail management teams with accurate performance information in a timely manner.

AUGUST 2024 REPORT

 

The Tracker splits out performance across the following sectors:

Fashion: accessories, clothing, footwear
Lifestyle: general household goods, gifts, health & beauty, leisure goods
Homewares: cookware, furniture & floor coverings, lighting, linen & textiles
Non-store: sales through the internet and mail order.


Additional weekly benchmarking data is also provided exclusively to contributing retailers.

On Retail Week we find the BDO data invaluable. It's fantastic to get a weekly snapshot of how retailers are faring. The main data sources are monthly, and the weekly shifts in trading patterns provide extra insight that otherwise retailers would not have.
George Macdonald, Executive Editor, Retail Week

 

For more information, to access a previous edition or to contribute to the High Street Sales Tracker, please contact highstreetsalestracker@bdo.co.uk.

Find out more about our services for the retail industry.

Joining the Tracker

As a retailer in the current turbulent economic climate, it has never been more important for you to know how you are performing and benchmark your results; against both competitors and the industry standard.

At BDO we have developed the High Street Sales Tracker, the leading sales index for mid-corporate retailers which benchmarks like for like sales performance within the sector, a vital tool for any company, and one which has proved invaluable in many other industries.

The High Street Sales Tracker is a confidential, weekly exchange of like for like sales results between retailers, providing busy retail management teams with accurate performance information in a timely manner.

We believe that the High Street Sales Tracker is a valuable and timely business tool for retailers. It enables members to receive the latest industry sales data on a weekly basis.

The index provides you with a number of advantages, including the ability to:

  • track movements in your sales against the industry average
  • analyse and benchmark your sales against your peers on a weekly and monthly average basis
  • identify strong and weak trading points within a period
  • react quickly to movements that are inconsistent with the sector
  • make better informed investment decisions
  • form a group of close contacts to discuss topical issues as they arise.

Each Monday, members email their Sales Tracker percentage for the previous week to highstreetsalestracker@bdo.co.uk. The number will reflect the percentage increase in turnover, from current outlets that were open in the comparative week in the previous year. BDO collates respondents' results and lists them in descending order of value for maximum confidentiality.Therefore each participant is aware of their own figure and is able to benchmark their performance against their peers.We will then create an average figure for the week and circulate the results to all participants on a no-name basis.

Weekly High Street Sales Tracker Reports are received by participants every Tuesday.

With the largest market penetration of the retail sector outside of the Big Four, BDO plays a leading role through advising many of the UK's retail businesses.We have strong links with the retail community in the UK and internationally allowing us to deliver the best possible service.

We provide advisory, transaction and assurance services and our partners are renowned for their commercial and pragmatic approach to solving problems.

Our track record in advising retailers is second to none.We assist a diverse range of businesses to achieve their goals.

We address the issues that matter to our clients by providing fresh thinking, constructive challenge, and a flexible approach.We achieve this through combining detailed sector knowledge with market expertise and international reach.

Testimonials

It's easy to see your own sales in isolation against internal benchmarks. Getting the BDO data through weekly gives us a helpful independent steer in understanding in general and, invaluably, our own relative performance.
Paul Harris, Finance Director, Liberty Plc

If should you have any questions about the Tracker or you would like to join, please contact highstreetsalestracker@bdo.co.uk. 

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