A growing percentage of our web sales are click and collect. Can we include them in our like-for-like sales figures?

There is no reason to exclude click-and-collect sales from like-for-like results

The important point to bear in mind about a like-for-like comparison is that “it is not an official measure of performance in terms of audited numbers,” says AlixPartners director Dan Murphy.

Provided you are clear about what is included or excluded, there is no reason why click-and-collect sales should not be included.

The like-for-like approach compares only those stores which have been trading for the full previous year, separating out the effect of sales from newly opened stores, and gives an indication of underlying performance at store level.

There are two main problems with like-for-likes. Murphy points out retailers can be fairly flexible about what they include: “They may exclude online sales, VAT effects, petrol sales, or even specific dates which change each year.

“They may use complex rules to decide on what a like-for-like store is, ranging from the simple rule about being open for a full year, to not having any refurbishment or development work carried out, to being affected by a new store opening nearby. So we need to be very clear on what exactly is included and excluded.”

The second main problem, relevant in today’s climate, is that like-for-likes give no indication of underlying profits. “At a time most retailers are discounting heavily to maintain top- line sales and market share, like-for-like growth could be seen as the result of heavy discounting rather than store performance improvement, and thus in many cases results in significant declines in margins.”