What are the street cries at dawn
Answers
Answered by
1
Squeezed incomes
A big factor has been a fall in discretionary spending, spurred by rising shop prices and weak wage growth.
A near 15% fall in the pound since the Brexit vote has pushed inflation over 3% - way above the Bank of England's 2% target. This has made imported goods more expensive, with those costs passed on to consumers.
Couple that with the fact that wages have been rising at a slower pace than inflation - and shoppers have less disposable income to spend in stores and restaurants.

By volume, retail sales have continued to grow but at a much slower rate - falling from from 4.7% in 2016 to 1.9% last year.
"It has been a real issue for high street retailers and accelerated the decline of some," says Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"The sector was already suffering from structural problems, such as the rise in online shopping and high business rates. But the burst in inflation since the EU referendum has squeezed incomes in real terms, leading to much weaker growth in sales than retailers had anticipated."
2. The shift to online shopping
Online giants such as Amazon have had a huge impact on the high street as more consumers see online shopping as cheaper and easier than going to the shops.
And while overall retail sales growth is weak, online sales continue to shoot up.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionAmazon's fulfilment centre in Peterborough
Paul Martin, head of UK retail at KPMG, says: "With the overall market not growing, it is all about market share, and 20% of that market is held by online players. If you don't have the right online offering, again, you will struggle."
That is pushing retailers to try to reinvent their stores, with the likes of John Lewis and Debenhams now holding more in-store events and "experiences" to lure shoppers in.
If shops fail to do either "value, convenience, or experience" well, they will struggle, Mr Martin says.
3. Changing tastes
Toys R Us fell short in all three areas, according to Simon Thomas of Moorfields Advisory, the toy chain's administrator
A big factor has been a fall in discretionary spending, spurred by rising shop prices and weak wage growth.
A near 15% fall in the pound since the Brexit vote has pushed inflation over 3% - way above the Bank of England's 2% target. This has made imported goods more expensive, with those costs passed on to consumers.
Couple that with the fact that wages have been rising at a slower pace than inflation - and shoppers have less disposable income to spend in stores and restaurants.

By volume, retail sales have continued to grow but at a much slower rate - falling from from 4.7% in 2016 to 1.9% last year.
"It has been a real issue for high street retailers and accelerated the decline of some," says Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"The sector was already suffering from structural problems, such as the rise in online shopping and high business rates. But the burst in inflation since the EU referendum has squeezed incomes in real terms, leading to much weaker growth in sales than retailers had anticipated."
2. The shift to online shopping
Online giants such as Amazon have had a huge impact on the high street as more consumers see online shopping as cheaper and easier than going to the shops.
And while overall retail sales growth is weak, online sales continue to shoot up.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionAmazon's fulfilment centre in Peterborough
Paul Martin, head of UK retail at KPMG, says: "With the overall market not growing, it is all about market share, and 20% of that market is held by online players. If you don't have the right online offering, again, you will struggle."
That is pushing retailers to try to reinvent their stores, with the likes of John Lewis and Debenhams now holding more in-store events and "experiences" to lure shoppers in.
If shops fail to do either "value, convenience, or experience" well, they will struggle, Mr Martin says.
3. Changing tastes
Toys R Us fell short in all three areas, according to Simon Thomas of Moorfields Advisory, the toy chain's administrator
Similar questions