UK to see modest growth in Christmas sales
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People gather in London's Regent Street as the Christmas lights are switched on Tuesday Nov 13, 2012. -- PHOTO : AP
LONDON (REUTERS) - Christmas sales in Britain will edge up by 1 per cent this year, though with inflation running at 2.5 per cent sales volumes will fall, a report published by Deloitte on Monday showed.
The business advisory firm forecast total retail sales in December, excluding fuel, of 36.6 billion pounds (S$71.7 billion), up from 36.2 billion pounds in the same month last year.
Deloitte said around 10 per cent of all in-store retail sales in December, some 3.2 billion pounds, would be influenced by smartphones, with another 330 million pounds of sales made directly through the devices.
It predicted a further 500 million pounds in sales would be made through tablets. Total online sales were forecast to rise by 17 per cent.
