Annex
SHOP PRICE INDEX—DECEMBER 2000
CHEAPEST CHRISTMAS
FOR FOUR
YEARS
BRC's Shop Price Index showed prices increasing
by a marginal 0.13 per cent during the month of December, mainly
as a result of rises in the price of non-food items. The price
of food items however fell, with the price of pork being a notable
exception.
Despite the second monthly increase in prices,
the year on year trend shows prices are still lower overall. This
December prices were 0.05 per cent lower than last year. When
compared on a like for like basis, prices were 0.5 per cent lower
two years ago and three years ago prices were 1.1 per cent lower,
making this the cheapest pre-Christmas period since our Shop Price
Index began.
BRC's Director General, Bill Moyes, said: "Consumers
continued to get outstanding value for money on the high street
during the run up to Christmas. Prices were lower this Christmas
in comparison with the last three years. Retailers opened their
shops for longer this Christmas than in previous years and were
still able to offer competitive prices."
SHOP PRICE INDEX
|
| Inflation rate*
|
|
| 1997 | | |
| November | 100
| |
| December | 99.81
| |
| 1998 | | |
| January | 98.52
| |
| February | 99.19
| |
| March | 99.38
| |
| April | 99.12
| |
| May | 99.61
| |
| June | 99.99
| |
| July | 99.30
| |
| August | 99.67
| |
| September | 98.94
| |
| October | 98.84
| |
| November | 99.13
| -0.87% |
| December | 99.20
| -0.61% |
| 1999 | | |
| January | 98.90
| 0.39% |
| February | 98.81
| -0.28% |
| March | 99.48
| 0.10% |
| April | 99.19
| 0.07% |
| May | 99.47
| -0.14% |
| June | 99.26
| -0.73% |
| July | 98.54
| -0.76% |
| August | 99.05
| -0.62% |
| September | 98.57
| -0.37% |
| October | 98.68
| -0.16% |
| November | 97.99
| -1.15% |
| December | 98.76
| -0.44% |
| 2000 | | |
| January | 97.75
| -1.16% |
| February | 98.64
| -0.27% |
| March | 98.59
| -0.89% |
| April | 98.54
| -0.65% |
| May | 98.33
| -1.15% |
| June | 98.44
| -0.82% |
| July | 98.07
| -0.48% |
| August | 97.96
| -1.10% |
| September | 98.92
| 0.35% |
| October | 98.45
| -0.23% |
| November | 98.58
| 0.60% |
| December | 98.71
| -0.05% |
|
*Published figures began once a full year's data was available.
Collected and produced by ACNielsen in conjunction with BRC.
NOTES
The SPI provides an indicator of the direction of price changes
in retail outlets. BRC launched the Shop Price Index to give an
accurate picture of the inflation faced by shoppers on 200 of
the most commonly bought items in shops which are representative
of the most commonly shopped in stores.
As the index is designed to reflect changes in shop prices,
the sampling points chosen are five large urban areas, spread
nationally. Not all sample stores are in city centres; they have
been selected to reflect local shopping habits. Therefore, the
sample includes superstores on out-of-town sites, town centre
department stores, local parade stores, and shopping centres.
In each location, ACNielsen, who collect and process the data
for BRC, visit stores of differing types, eg grocery, confectionery,
DIY, department stores—including small and large multiples
and independents. Data collection is monthly and always in the
same stores to maintain consistency.
The items for which prices are collected reflect standard
consumer purchasing patterns in terms of branded/own label split
and price distribution. The Index is constructed of five main
sectors of purchase: Food, Household goods, Furniture, Clothing,
and Personal goods. In total there are 200 items representing
the five main sectors, there are around 1,800 price points collected
each period. Each product class category has an individual weighting
based on the "All households" expenditure measured in
the Family Expenditure Survey. This data is also used to weight
the Office for National Statistics Retail Price Index (RPI).
Although it is a proxy measure of inflation, the Shop Price
Index is more focused than the Retail Price Index, and demonstrates
the extent to which major retailers contribute to inflation through
their pricing of a range of commonly bought goods.
| 
