Figures from Kelkoo, produced by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR), estimate that the recent unrest has already cost UK retailers £80m in lost sales due to early store closures and consumers avoiding the chaos of city centres across the country.
(Pictured: a boarded-up shop in Wolverhampton after riots on Tuesday evening, August 9.) This is in addition to the clean up bill which is estimated to be £61 million to date. In total, retailers and insurers are faced with a total bill of £141 million following four days of high street chaos, £35.2 million per day. <br><br>If the situation continues into the weekend, it is expected that this figure will increase to £392 million by midnight on Saturday. This is made up of £242 million of lost stock and repairs alongside £150 million of lost sales for both retailers and other services such as bars and restaurants. <br><br>UK tourism could also be impacted as a result of the retail riots. If just 1pc of tourists change their plans as a direct result of this, the UK’s tourism industry can expect to lose £520 million in the next 12 months alone. This is based on 330,000 tourists choosing alternative destinations which would be particularly bad news with the forthcoming Olympics. To put this into context, the recent royal wedding generated £527 million for the UK, marginally higher than the anticipated lost tourism income. <br><br>Chris Simpson, CMO, Kelkoo, says: “Despite the chaos showing signs of abating, UK retailers are sadly going to feel the fallout of this week’s riots for several months to come. Much of the cost will be picked up by insurers but we cannot overlook the fact that on top of the damage caused, retailers, restaurants, pubs and other service providers have been forced to shut their doors to business in order to protect their staff, customers and premises. This comes at a time when retailers are already struggling to stay afloat with sales up by just 0.6pc on July 2010. Despite a small move in the right direction, I expect this could be a very different picture in the coming months as consumers confidence has taken a turn for the worst. <br><br>“However, it’s not just the immediate damage that will impact our economy. As scenes of violence span the globe making headline news across the world, this could have a serious impact on UK tourism over the next 12 months. This is particularly problematic with the forthcoming Olympics, an event which should generate a considerable amount of revenue for the UK. Our research suggests that if just one per cent of tourists choose an alternative destination to the UK, we stand to lose £520 million in lost revenue over the next 12 months. This is marginally less than the amount of income generated by the royal wedding back in April.”<br><br>For further information visit:
