Survey reveals how profits are shaping charity retail

Three times more profit is made by charity superstores than normal charity shops, a survey has found.

Civil Society’s Charity Shops Survey found that the average profit from a superstore was £1,604 per week compared to £554 for a regular store with income from superstores double that of average charity shops at £5,281 per store per week.

Charity shops profits have risen for the second consecutive year, with retail income increasing by 5.1% on average.

Income from sales of Gift Aided donated items has grown by 7.7% with a 6.7% increase in Gift Aid reclaimed.

Charities are becoming more selective about types of store with an increase in the proportion of specialist and out-of-town shops.

Some 41% of shops in the survey are in locations other than the high street, up from 35% last year.

However the survey also found that the average volunteer numbers per shop are down from 21.9 to 21.4 and average hours per volunteer have fallen from 6.1 to 5.7.

This year’s survey also gave a lower figure for average volunteering hours per shop, at 121.1 hours, down from 134.8 hours in 2018 and 124.4 hours in 2017.

Shop managers said shortage of volunteers was their greatest concern.