Bermuda's retailers have become better businesses as they pull out all the stops to try to attract the Island's increasingly cautious shoppers.

That is the view of Kristi Grayston, chairwoman of the Retail Division of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, who spoke yesterday after the latest statistics showed retail sales volume fell for an 18th consecutive month.

Total retail spending in October was $93 million, $2 million less than the same month last year - when financial markets around the world were going into freefall.

The retail sales volume — which takes inflation into account and which reflects the quantity of goods sold — dipped by four percent.

Ms Grayston said retailers had listened to their customers and acted on their three main concerns - price, selection and service - leaving them in good shape going into the crucial weekend before Christmas.

"Those who come out the other side of this are going to be experts," Ms Grayston, owner of the Pulp & Circumstance stores, said yesterday. "People are really focused on their businesses right now.

"You can see that by how the stores look and the selections are great and the prices competitive. And we have invested time and energy training our staff. I think retailers have done an excellent job."

Ms Grayston said it was difficult at this stage to gauge how the holiday shopping season would pan out. Shoppers may be waiting for the kind of discounts offered in the days before the holiday last year, but she said a repeat of those pre-Christmas sales was unlikely.

Stores had managed their inventories better this year, she said, meaning they did not have a large surplus to sell off as they did last year.

Some businesses take 40 percent of their annual receipts during the November-December period, she added.

The October retail sales figures, released by the Department of Statistics yesterday, showed the biggest fall came in the motor vehicles sector, which saw its sales fall by 12.4 percent, coming after September's 24.2 percent fall. However, the Retail Sales Index commentary noted that sales of motorcycles rose.

There were also further signs that the much-predicted drop-off in the construction industry is becoming reality, as building materials stores' sales plunged 11.8 percent.

Apparel stores, a sector that was battered with double-digit sales declines for the first eight months of the year, saw their slump close to bottoming out, as sales fell 2.6 percent.

"In an attempt to lure customers back into outlets, retailers have offered a number of incentives including longer opening hours and bargain prices," the RSI commentary stated. "However, these incentives have not yet translated into stronger sales." Somers Cooper, managing director of apparel store AS Cooper & Sons, told this newspaper earlier this month that trade started to pick up in October, and gathered pace in November.

Service stations' receipts fell by 7.5 percent in October, with the decrease attributable to lower fuel prices.

Food stores bucked the trend, as their sales rose 4.8 percent year on year, and continued their run of consecutive monthly sales rises that goes back more than two years.

Most of the growth was down to a 2.8 percent increase in the price of food. Liquor stores also posted a 2.3 percent revenue increase, as liquor prices rose two percent. And pharmacies also recorded a four percent increase.

Sales of electronic appliances and tourist-related goods each fell by seven percent.

Overseas purchases declared by returning residents were valued at $5.2 million — unchanged from October 2008.