Retail | Q4 sales down 11 percent year-on-year

The value of retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2015 amounted to MOP15.59 billion, down by 10.5 percent year-on-year and up by 6.8 percent compared with the revised figure of MOP14.59 billion in the third quarter.
According to information released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) yesterday, retail sales of clocks and jewelry (MOP3.37 billion) accounted for 21.6 percent of the total, followed by department stores sales (14.4 percent), adults clothing (13 percent), leather goods (9.8 percent), motor vehicles (7.1 percent) and goods in supermarkets (6.6 percent).
According to DSEC, the total value of retail sales for the whole year of 2015 amounted to MOP60.89 billion, down by 10.4 percent year-on-year.
Besides the quantitative data, DSEC also collected retailers’ comments. About 60 percent of those interviewed stated that sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2015 decreased from the previous quarter.
In terms of retail prices, about 61.1 percent of those interviewed reported stable prices while 34.3 percent noted a decrease and 4.6 percent stated an increase. Moreover, about 68.8 percent of the retailers expressed that stock levels remained stable compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, while 21.6 percent indicated that the stock level had decreased.
In regards to the business outlook for the first quarter of 2016, 48 percent of the retailers anticipate that sales volume will decrease over the fourth quarter of 2015, 39.4 percent expect sales volume to remain stable, while 12.6 percent predict an increase. Concurrently, 70.9 percent anticipate stable retail prices, 21.4 percent expect a decrease and 7.7 percent are predicting an increase.