Since the beginning of the year the General Retailers Index has declined more than 5.15% as investors factor in the shocks of a difficult trading environment. But while retail sales figures released this week show growth, industry analysts say it may be too early to "get the champagne bottles out yet". Stefan Salzer, partner and managing director at The Boston Consulting Group South Africa, said: "The overall market remains under much pressure and some of the growth we've seen is 'catch-up spending' of the recessionary market we've seen over most of 2016 and 2017." Salzer expects to see retailers fighting hard for extra sales, be it through aggressive promotions, attractive combo deals or other measures to lure shoppers into their stores. For the past two years the retail sector has been reeling from the pains of slow consumer spend, driven by the lack of disposable income. Mixed bag But investors seem to have a mixed bag of ideas when it comes to retail stocks as in the year to dat...
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