US retailers’ sales beat expectations

Clothing retailer Gap’s sales rose by an unexpectedly strong 10 per cent in July as big discounts helped attract more buyers than expected to US shops despite continued economic uncertainty.

Like-for-like sales among 20 retailers rose by 4.3 per cent in July from a year ago, surpassing expectations of a 1.5 per cent rise and much improved from a flat June, according to Thomson Reuters.

Gap’s monthly figures compared with a forecast of 3.8 per cent growth and added to evidence that the clothes retailer is ending a prolonged period of falling sales caused by mis-steps in fashion and marketing.

While the sector figures gave retailers some hope that consumers were spending more freely, analysts said many people were still only willing to spend when they saw big discounts.

Read Full Article from Financial Times

- Posted: 2012-08-02 15:00:09

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