Caution urged on growth in retail sales

Retail Excellence Ireland has warned against over-exuberance regarding recovering consumer spend figures, despite 4% year-on-year growth evident in the first three months of the year.

“The first quarter of 2015 proved a relatively positive quarter which started well with like-for-like gains of 4.37% in January, mainly a function of today’s consumer tendency to postpone spending into the sales period.

“A significant concern is the fact that the quarter weakened over the three months, ending with gains of just 2.43% in March,” said Sean Murphy, deputy chief executive.