Retail news round-up on December 2, 2015: Shop prices fall accelerated in November, Tesco cuts loyalty card rewards by half, and discounters trending for Christmas shopping.
Shop prices plunge 2.1% in November
UK shop prices declined at a faster rate last month, signalling that inflation is expected to remain subdued.
Prices fell by 2.1% over the 12 months to November, a steeper decrease than October's 1.8% drop
Non-food prices tumbled 3.3% over the period, representing the biggest drag on prices. This was mainly due to reductions in clothing, footwear, gardening, hardware prices and electrical goods.
"Although the survey period does not cover Black Friday, it is likely that some retailers were discounting early in November in order to spread consumer spending over a longer period," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
Tesco curbs Clubcard loyalty points with 50% cut
Tesco has dealt a heavy blow to its credit card customers by halving the Clubcard loyalty reward points for shopping outside its stores.
The grocer blames the new European regulations, which limit the amount card providers can earn from shop transactions.
Customers will now need to spend £8, instead of £4, to earn one point outside its shops.
Seven in 10 plan Christmas food shopping at discounters
Nearly 70% of customers are planning to do their Christmas food shopping this year at Aldi or Lidl, a survey has revealed.
Around seven in 10 shoppers have said that they would visit the hard discounters in the weeks leading up to December 25 for cheaper Christmas groceries, according to figures by grocery think tank IGD.
However, only £1.7bn of the total estimated £20.3bn spend on groceries over the festive period will be rung through the tills of the German budget supermarkets.
Meanwhile, over half of savvy shoppers are likely to turn to more than one supermarket for their groceries.
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