Next chief executive Lord Wolfson has expressed confidence that the outlook for consumer spending will improve gradually heading into next year, boosting shares across the retail sector.
According to the Financial Times, Lord Wolfson issued a bullish forecast for the market on Wednesday, suggesting that shoppers will be more willing to spend as inflation eases. However, he acknowledged that potential hurdles remain on the path to recovery.
“We are not expecting a return to anything like a boom,” he explained. “The massive caveat is no one knows what’s going to happen in Europe, but it looks like we’re making our way towards a slow recovery.”
Lord Wolfson added that although online shopping has grown rapidly in recent years, 15 per cent of orders made over the internet are delivered to bricks-and-mortar outlets for collection. Shares in Next surged by 6.3 per cent in the wake of his remarks.
The fashion chain opened its latest outlet at the £1.4 billion Westfield Stratford City complex in London earlier this week, along with other big-name retailers including Marks & Spencer, Topshop and John Lewis.
