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(Sharecast News) - Retail sales rose in January at the slowest pace since the depths of the first Covid-19 lockdown as non-essential spending was hit by consumer concerns, the British Retail Consortium said.
Total retail sales fell 1.3% in January as like-for-like sales rose 7.1% from a year earlier. In the three months to January, in-store sales of non-food items dropped 36.5% and by 20% on a like-for-like basis. Food sales rose 7.5% on a like-for-like basis and 7.9% overall.
Over the same three months, total non-food sales dropped 5.6% and like-for-like sales rose 5.6%. Online non-food sales rose 83% in January, the highest growth on record, compared with just 1% a year earlier, as computer sales shot up with children off school. Clothing sales continued to decline with physical sales down across categories.
Helen Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive, said: "January saw retail sales growth decline to its lowest level since May of last year. The current lockdown has hit non-essential retailers harder than in November, with the new variant hampering consumer confidence and leading customers to hold back on spending - especially on clothing and footwear."
The survey shows the different impact of the crisis on physical shops compared with online sales, which have boomed, in what commentators say will be a permanent shift to shopping from home. So much so that the government is reported to be considering a tax on online sales to redress the balance between e-commerce operators such as Amazon and struggling physical shops.
Paul Martin, KPMG's UK head of retail, said: "With much of the UK in lockdown for the foreseeable weeks, conditions for retailers will continue to be incredibly challenging. On the one side dealing with a continued increase in online demand versus subdued demand on the high street - and overall in many cases, thinner margins and rising logistics costs and complexities post-Brexit."
1 Nov 2023 15:44
UK earnings, trading statements calendar - next 7 days
| Thursday 2 November | |
| BT Group PLC | Half Year Results |
| Derwent London PLC | Trading Statement |
| Entain PLC | Trading Statement |
| Haleon PLC | Q3 Results |
| Helios Towers PLC | Q3 Results |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC | Trading Statement |
| Howden Joinery Group PLC | Trading Statement |
| J Sainsbury PLC | Half Year Results |
| Kin & Carta PLC | Full Year Results |
| OSB Group PLC | Trading Statement |
| Shell PLC | Q3 Results |
| Smith & Nephew PLC | Q3 Results |
| TI Fluid Systems PLC | Trading Statement |
| Trainline PLC | Half Year Results |
| Friday 3 November | |
| no events scheduled | |
| Monday 6 November | |
| Kingspan Group PLC | Trading Statement |
| Kosmos Energy Ltd | Q3 Results |
| Ryanair Holdings PLC | Half Year Results |
| Tuesday 7 November | |
| Associated British Foods PLC | Full Year Results |
| Beazley PLC | Q3 Results |
| Direct Line Insurance Group PLC | Trading Statement |
| dotdigital Group PLC | Full Year Results |
| IWG PLC | Q3 Results |
| Persimmon PLC | Trading Statement |
| RS Group PLC | Half Year Results |
| Vaalco Energy Inc | Q3 Results |
| Watches of Switzerland Group PLC | Trading Statement |
| Wednesday 8 November | |
| Conduit Holdings Ltd | Q3 Results |
| ITV PLC | Trading Statement |
| JD Wetherspoon PLC | Q1 Results |
| Marks & Spencer Group PLC | Half Year Results |
| MaxCyte Inc | Q3 Results |
| Secure Trust Bank PLC | Trading Statement |
| Smiths News PLC | Full Year Results |
| Time Out Group PLC | Full Year Results |
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