Flooring drives inflation surge
February 2, 2022
Flooring and furniture are key drivers of retail inflation as a four-fold increase is reported for January due to soaring demand and continuing shipping issues for imports.
Latest data from the BRC-NielsenIQ shop price index showed the non-food inflation more than quadrupled from a flat 0.2% in December to 0.9% in January, a period when overall retail inflation doubled from 0.8% to 1.5% – the highest rate of increase since 2012.
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, commented: "Furniture and flooring saw exceptionally high demand leading to increased prices as the rising oil costs made shipping more expensive.
"Retailers are working hard to cut costs, but it would be impossible to protect consumers from any future rises. As commodity prices, energy prices and transportation costs continue to rise, it is inevitable that retail prices will continue to follow in the future,” she said.
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, said: "The surge in energy and travel costs is now impacting disposable incomes and is likely to dent consumer's willingness to spend.
"NielsenIQ research this month shows nearly a half of all households are saying that their most important concern at the moment is the rising cost of living."
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