Virus sparks sales drop

The coronavirus crisis saw shops suffered their worst annual year on record, according to new figures.

The latest British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor shows a preChristmas sales uplift failed to stop the slump caused by virus lockdowns and local restriction and total sales fell 0.3% on 2019 – the worst yearon-year change since the survey started in 1995.

The slump was driven by a 5% plunge in non-food sales – particularly fashion, lifestyle and homeware retailers.