Sofa retailer ScS has said early Christmas trading is leading to a drop in footfall, as customers are buying presents over 'big ticket' furniture items.

With stores in Gloucester and Cheltenham, the business said its two-year like-for-like order growth reached 0.9 per cent for the 16 weeks to November 20. But the reduction in store footfall and conversion had been noticeable over the last seven weeks.

On a one-year basis, ScS said in a trading statement its like-for-like orders had declined 10.6 per cent.

It blamed the drop in footfall and conversion on customers shopping earlier for Christmas when compared to pre-pandemic years. Extended product lead times are also said to be impacting sales.

Despite this, its online business continues to grow. Two-year like-for-like orders grew 38.5 per cent for the first 16 weeks of the year.

ScS's order book stood at £131.9m as of November 2021, up £71.5 million on the same point in 2019.

Group chair Alan Smith said: "As previously reported, the group had a strong start to the year, resulting in two year like-for-like order intake growth for the first nine weeks. However, over the last seven weeks, the group has seen a reduction in store footfall and conversion with consumers spending less on big ticket discretionary purchases,"

"This appears to be driven by a change in behaviour with consumers shopping earlier for Christmas when compared with previous years. The extended product lead times currently being experienced across the furniture and wider retail industry are also having an impact on current purchasing trends.

"The group is now preparing for the winter sales trading period, and whilst it remains difficult to predict shopping habits and consumer engagement, the business is planning to approach this key period in a manner consistent with that which has proven successful in previous years."