Shop prices fall in August after a wave of discounts on high street
CONSUMERS benefitted from another drop in shop prices in August, driven by falling commodity prices and fierce competition on the high street.
Prices fell by 1.4 per cent last month, which was the same rate as July, according to the latest monthly index released today by Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The trade body said clothing retailers discounted heavily last month in a attempt to shift summer stock, with prices falling by around 5.4 per cent.
Books, stationery and home entertainment fell by 5.2 per cent. Overall, non-food deflation accelerated to 2.4 per cent from 2.3 per cent in July.
Food prices rose for the second month in a row – up 0.2 per cent compared with the 0.1 per cent rise in July.
However, the BRC’s director general Helen Dickinson said the rise is likely to be a “temporary fluctuation” in a longer term downward trend driven by ongoing supermarket price wars.