British Retail Consortium definition
British Retail Consortium (BRC)
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a trade association made up of 170 members. The BRC aims to drive positive change in the retail industry and influence its members to thrive for the benefit of consumers.
The BRC releases several different pieces of monthly data, such as the Retail Sales Monitor (RSM) report and the Shop Price Index (SPI), that provide detailed insights into the performance of the retail industry.
Although not members, many banks and financial service providers such as Santander, Lloyds and PayPal are ‘associates’ of the BRC. Associates get access to exclusive data and analysis from the retail industry that contains valuable information such as consumer habits and behavior. They also gain direct commercial links to all retail members.
In joining the BRC, retail members get brand and profit protection, as well as expert regulatory and operational assistance.
Notable associate members:
- Barclays
- Google UK
- Lloyds Banking Group
- PayPal (UK) Limited
- Visa Europe
Notable retail members:
- McDonald’s
- Starbucks
- Asda
- Tesco
- Next
- Boots
- M&S
What is the British Retail Consortium report?
The British Retail Consortium report, also known as the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor (RSM), is a monthly report on retail performance in the UK. The participating members represent over 60% of the total retail industry based on turnover.
The RSM is seen as a key economic indicator due to the scale of the industry it covers and can be used as a gauge of consumer demand. Although not as significant to the markets as the UK monthly retail sales, traders can still benefit from the RSM report as it gives a substantial indication of the retail performance of its members over the last month.