Brits splash the cash at Christmas but retailers brace for tougher 2023

Brits splash the cash at Christmas but retailers brace for tougher 2023

British shoppers spent freely at Christmas, piling their trolleys with party food, drink and clothing as they enjoyed the first holiday season free of COVID-19 worries for three years, but retailers warned they will tighten their belts in 2023.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Tesco and Marks & Spencer, two of Britain’s biggest retailers, posted better than expected Christmas sales as people snapped up festive treats despite a deepening cost-of-living crisis.

In-store sales were particularly strong, with strikes by postal workers giving an extra reason to return to the High Street.

Results on Wednesday from another big supermarket, Sainsbury’s, showed a similar trend, confounding retailers’ worries that Christmas trading would be sluggish given double-digit UK inflation and low consumer confidence.

The outlier was online-only fashion retailer ASOS, which has stumbled post-pandemic after a decade riding the wave of the shift to internet shopping. It said on Thursday that its revenues were down 3 percent in the four months before December 31, with UK sales down 8 percent.

Delivery problems exacerbated ASOS’s problems this Christmas and showed the value of a bricks and mortar presence.

Marks & Spencer, which has about 1,000 UK stores, gained market share and