Cost-of-living crisis stops wary shoppers spending
THE boom in retail sales slowed sharply last month in the face of pressure on household finances.
In the five weeks to April 2 sales still grew by 3.1 per cent compared with the same time last year, say the British Retail Consortium and accountants KPMG.
But that was down on the 6.9 per cent average rise in the past three months.
Spending was 5.4 per cent up on the same period in 2019, before the Covid crisis struck.
However BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said some of that was due to shoppers having to pay more for the same goods with inflation biting, rather than buying more.
She said: “As consumer confidence continued to sink, March saw sales slow, and while spend remained above last year this likely reflects higher prices.”
The figures out today show that over the three months to March food sales fell by 2.6 per cent year-on-year.
And while non-food sales jumped 14.9 per cent over that time, this was below the 18.3 per cent average growth in the past 12 months.
Online purchases still account for a much bigger chunk of all non-food spending than before the pandemic.
But at 38.5 per cent in March, it was down markedly from the 63 per cent a year ago, when most shops were still forced to close because of the pandemic.
Separate data also out today from Barclaycard found spending with plastic last month was 17.7 per cent above 2019.
But an 18.1 per cent jump in the bill for essentials was partly due to higher fuel prices, it added.
However, people still splashed out 17.5 per cent more than before the pandemic on non-essentials. Entertainment was more than 20 per cent higher than in March 2019, driven by blockbuster cinema releases such as The Batman.
Barclaycard found nine in 10 worried about rising bills affecting their finances.