Published
Jul 23, 2021
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Fashion falters in June but online spend remains strong say official stats

Published
Jul 23, 2021

There was some good news but with a sting in the tail on Friday as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said UK retail sales volumes increased by 0.5% between May and June.Meanwhile sales by value rose 1.6%. And volumes were up 9.5% with values up 10.6% when compared with their pre-coronavirus February 2020 levels.


Photo: Tim Douglas/Pexels



And that downside? The largest contribution to the monthly increase in June 2021 came from food stores where sales volumes rose by 4.2%, with anecdotal evidence suggesting these increased sales may be linked to the start of the Euro 2020 football championship.

Unfortunately, non-food stores reported a fall of 1.7% in sales volumes month-on-month, with lower clothing sales part of that as such stores saw their volume sales falling 4.7%. As well as clothing stores being weak, department stores also reported a month-on-month decline of 3.6%.

The ONS also said that the proportion of retail sales happening online stayed “substantially higher” than before the pandemic (in fact, 39.9% higher than February 2020). But in June, most retail sectors reported a month-on-month fall in their proportions of online sales as consumers returned to physical stores. The total proportion of sales happening online fell to 26.7% in June, down from 28.4% in May. Overall, non-store retailers reported a monthly decline of 3.7% in June.

But while online sales overall declined, textile, clothing and footwear stores saw e-sales rising 0.2% month-on-month and 5%  compared to June 2020.

Commenting on the figures, analyst Jacqui Baker, partner and head of retail at consultancy RSM, said:The successful vaccine rollout, some good weather, Euros 2020 and Wimbledon have all lifted the mood of the nation and boosted consumer confidence to pre-pandemic levels, which increased sales volumes.”

But she’s concerned about July sales. “Freedom Day [July 19] was expected to accelerate this upbeat mood. However, with a rapid rise in Covid cases and the resulting increase in self-isolation mandates, retail’s recovery is still under threat. The new ‘pingdemic’ will impact footfall as consumers are kept at home through self-isolation or the fear of being pinged [by the NHS app]. In addition, summer spending may be affected when shops are too short-staffed to open the doors.”

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.