Out of the 360 retailers researched, the 50% has concluded that their sales had decreased since the onset of the recession. The bad news is that out of 360 retailers only 13% discovered that their sales were growing, and the 38% saw no change.

The outcomes fly in the face of extensive evidence from retailers and symbol groups that consumers are doing more of their shopping locally as they are seeking to reduce waste and handle their budgets more carefully.

But recent figures from TNS Worldpanel suggest there are signs showing that most of the retail customers have started to slip back to pre recession behavior.

One third of retailers thought that the level of sales was down on last year, while just over half 51% said it was the same. However, only 16% felt that the financial crisis problem was getting worse.