Fashion sales bright spot as storms cast a cloud on retail
FASHION stores enjoyed a sales bounce last month but online purchases fell to the lowest level since the Covid crisis began, figures have revealed.
Overall figures dropped 0.3 per cent between January and February, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday, worse than forecast.
Experts believe February’s storms dented demand as people were deterred from venturing out. And despite some clothing shops seeing sales jump 13.2 per cent over the two months, the soaring cost of living is set to bite.
Heather Bovill, deputy director for surveys and economic indicators at the ONS, explained: “More socialising, as well as many returning to the workplace, meant a good month for clothing and department stores, with people looking to expand their wardrobes.”
Department store sales rose by 1.3 per cent. And while sales in supermarkets and other food stores fell 0.2 per cent, this was believed to be down to more eating out in restaurants and pubs, which has helped those businesses recover.
Meanwhile, the proportion of retail sales online fell to 27.8 per cent in February, the lowest share since March 2020, when it was 22.7 per cent. Digital peaked at 37.7 per cent of all retail sales in February last year.
Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at accountants PwC, said: “Despite storms Dudley and Eunice, consumers have been returning to high streets, with online sales at their lowest since before the pandemic.
“Online sales fell across almost every category of retail against the previous month, suggesting that more shoppers are returning to their prepandemic habits.”
However, retail bosses fear a recovery could be derailed by a hit to consumer confidence caused by the cost of living.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Consumers face a rocky road ahead. Confidence has been knocked by the continued rise in inflation, as well as the uncertainty created by the situation in Ukraine.”
Karl Thompson, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: “The squeeze on budgets is set to worsen over coming months, exerting further downward pressure on retail sales.”