Like for like retail sales

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 04:18 EST, 6 January 2011

The Daily Mail City team explain the most common measure for comparing High Street chains' recent sales performance with the business they did the year before.

What are we talking about?

Also known as same store sales, they measure how well retailers are doing. Over the next couple of weeks Britain's High Street giants will give updates on trading over the key Christmas period. The most common measure will be the like for likes which compare a chain's sales performance for the same number of stores year on year.

Adding to the confusion, some retailers also report underlying sales figures.

Why?

Well, measuring total sales is not a great indicator of how well a retailer has performed, as the figure can be distorted by the number of new shops opened or number of shops closed during the period being measured.

So if a chain is in big growth mode and total sales have soared it doesn't give a true reflection of how trading is going - sales from existing stores could have tanked.

Industry standard?

Erm… you would like to think so but there is a problem. Retailers are not consistent in the way they draw up like-for-like figures.

Some grocers include the sales from redeemed loyalty points while others don't. Also the expansion of existing store space, for example mezzanines, is a thorny issue and can be used to massage sales figures.

Also, there are no firm rules on whether internet sales should be included.