'Glimmers of hope' even as lockdown decimates UK retail sales

April saw record-breaking falls in UK retail sales as thousands of businesses were forced to shut up shop though experts pointed to “some glimmers of hope” in the latest official figures.

A virtually empty Buchanan Street in Glasgow as people observe the lockdown. Picture: John Devlin

The total volume of retail sales fell by 18.1 per cent in April compared to the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Scottish high streets had suffered the worst performance on record last month as the vast majority of retailers remained shuttered amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The ONS data showed that clothing sales were the hardest hit, falling by 50.2 per cent compared to March, a month which had itself seen drops of 34.9 per cent from February’s figures.

Sales from household goods stores fell 45.4 per cent, on the back of an 8.7 per cent drop from February to March. Supermarkets saw a modest fall of 2.8 per cent, having seen sales increase 10.4 per cent in March amid some panic stockpiling.

Euan Murray, relationship director at Barclays Corporate Banking, Scotland, said: “Spring is usually a welcome time for UK retailers, with Easter festivities, early summer holiday spend and household improvements all providing a boost to trading – but it isn’t April showers that have put a dampener on this period in 2020.

“The lockdown caused by Covid-19 has drastically reduced retail sales across the UK.

“While footfall is predictably down there are still some glimmers of hope, with online purchases and supermarket spend both providing a silver lining to the clouds that have gathered in recent weeks.

“The money that consumers might usually have spent within the experience economy could also open up new revenue streams for online-based, non-essential retailers. This potential trend will be one that is closely watched, not least because it is in stark contrast to the patterns we saw developing in 2019.”

According to the ONS figures, the only sectors making hay in the current climate were non-store retailing, such as online only and catalogue businesses, and off licences.

Non-store retailing saw rises of 18 per cent, while off-licences saw sales nudge up 2.3 per cent. The proportion spent online rose to 30.7 per cent in April, the highest on record, up from 19.1 per cent over the same month last year.

Sam Miley, an economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: “The complete deterioration of retail sales reflects the widespread lockdown measures in place since the end of March.

“With certain restrictions now lifted, and potentially more to follow, retail sales should return to month-on-month growth. Nevertheless, the scale of the impact of lockdown, and the subsequent economic fallout, means we may not see a return to pre-crisis household consumption levels until the mid-2020s.”

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