Retail prices fall at the fastest pace since 2007

Prices at British shops have fallen at their fastest pace for over seven years,

as reported by 'The Guardian'. Discounts on clothes and electrical goods and a slowdown in food inflation were the main factors behind this trend, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen that point to shop price deflation hit 1.4 percent in February from 1 percent in January.

That was the deepest rate of deflation since the BRC began producing these numbers in December 2006, noted the institution in a note. Non-food prices - including apparel - were falling at a rate of 3.0 percent in February, after 2.7 percent in January.

Meanwhile online fashion retailer Boohoo.com has appointed two new directors ahead of its 500 million pounds (Rs 512.2 crores) London initial public offering (IPO) on Mar, 14. The retailer is expected to fetch 100 million pounds (Rs 102.4 crores) at 50 pence (Rs 51.66) per share to help accelerate expansion, with broker Zeus Capital running the book.

Elsewhere, Italian online fashion retailer Yoox (YOOX.MI) made it to the front page saying that it expects stable sales growth in 2014 and its investment in China to start paying off, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.

"We expect the pace of growth in 2014 to change little compared with what we saw in 2013, with sales rising at a percentage in the low 20s," Chief Executive Federico Marchetti told Reuters. Analysts have forecast about 22 percent growth.

On another note, Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) announced that total net sales for the four-week period ended March 1, 2014 increased 8.8 percent to 48.4 million dollars (Rs 296.6 crores), compared to 44.5 million (Rs 272.7 crores) for the four-week period ended March 2, 2013. Company's comparable store sales increased 2.0 percent for the four-week period compared to a comparable store sales decrease of 8.9 percent in the year ago period.

"Sales trends improved for the month driven in part by increased traffic as we cleared excess inventory carried over from the holiday season. As a result, product margins decreased in the period compared to the prior year period," Rick Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of Zumiez Inc., stated.