UK retail sales suffered the biggest decline in 25 years last year as unnecessary store closures closed at a time of lock-ups more than the increase in online spending by Covid-19.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said total sales fell 0.3% last year from the 2019 level – the worst performance since records began in 1995 – reflecting the impact of government locks and consumer spending trends .
However, the overall decline in consumption masks an explosion in sales for some stores, and a sharp drop for others. Amid a decline in consumption in pubs, restaurants and hotels during the crisis, sales of food purchased from shops rose 5.4% year-on-year. However, sales of other products fell 5% from a year earlier.
While online sales increased during lockouts as consumers largely stayed away from the high street, sales of non-food products in physical stores fell 24%.
The decline in sales numbers comes after the first annual fall since 1995 in 2019, when years of weak wage growth hurt household finances and the fear of Brexit led to a 0.1% fall in sales. sales compared to 2018 levels.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of BRC, said Christmas had not offered much relief to retailers, as many shops had to close at peak trading times. Calling the government to provide new financial support to the region, she said: “With shops still closed in the future, billions of shops costing lost sales, many retailers are struggling to cope. live. ”
Despite the sharp decline in non-food sales, the latest figures from the BRC showed that total sales rose 1.8% in December compared to the same month a year ago. They said there was an increase in the purchase of food-based gifts at Christmas, as many shoppers bought as much as they could from shops that were still open. Food and beverage sales were at an all-time high of festival consumption.
Individual figures from Barclaycard – Britain’s largest credit card provider – showed that consumer spending fell 2.3% in December as tighter government controls blocked the street and hospitality sectors at a critical juncture. Christmas.
They said online sales rose by 52.2% in December when Britons were buying from home, while tighter restrictions meant intraday sales fell 8.3%. Barclaycard records almost half of UK transactions, and differs from BRC figures in that it tracks spending in shops, online and elsewhere across the economy – such as in pubs, restaurants and hotels.
With few opportunities for social interaction before Christmas, sales in pubs and bars fell by more than 70%, while spending in restaurants cost 65%. Corporate retailers – such as department stores and clothing stores – recorded decreases of 15% and 7% respectively.
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Raheel Ahmed, head of consumer products at Barclaycard, said: “With the latest government guidance on staying at home and the spread of vaccines on the horizon, we all hope for a brighter and richer year ahead.
“But for now, there is still a life of lockouts and it is a challenging time for street vendors as well as the hospitality, leisure and travel industries.”