6% of retailers say going is good

The first quarter of 2013 will be a key indicator of the health of the retail sector for the coming year, according to one of the industry’s main representative bodies.

The latest retailer business sentiment survey from the Ibec-affiliated Retail Ireland shows only 6% of retailers rate their business as being in good health, with 31% saying they are in poor shape, and 63% describing their business as average.

The figures show a serious improvement on the awful results of last year’s survey.