ONS Data Shows A Sharp Decline In Retail Sales

Retail sales data from the ONS shows that in March 2020, all measures showed a decline for both value and volume retail sales.

• Monthly retail sales volume fell sharply by 5.1%; the largest fall since the series began as many stores ceased trading from 23 March following official government guidance during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

• In March 2020, clothing store sales saw a sharp fall when compared with the previous month, at negative 34.8%.
  
  
• Food stores and non-store retailing were the only sectors to show growth in the monthly volume series in March 2020, with food stores seeing the strongest growth on record, at 10.4%.
  
  
• In the three months to March 2020, retail sales volume fell by 1.6% when compared with the previous three months, with strong declines in non-food stores and fuel.
  
  
• Online sales as a proportion of all retailing reached a record high of 22.3% in March 2020 as consumers switched to online purchasing following the pandemic.

The reporting period for March 2020 was from 1 March to 4 April 2020 meaning that two weeks of the five-week trading period was under social distancing measures introduced as the government moved into the "delay" phase of the coronavirus response. This affected main store types in various ways.

Many non-essential stores ceased trading from 23 March 2020 as a direct impact from the coronavirus pandemic (approximately 25% of the retailers sampled and returned in our Business Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey (BICS) reported that they had temporarily ceased trading).

In March 2020, all measures showed a decline for both value and volume retail sales, and for the three months to March 2020, value sales fell by 1.4% and volume sales by 1.6% when compared with the previous three months.

Showing a stronger rate of decline, the monthly growth rate fell sharply at 5.7% for value and 5.1% for volume as many stores ceased trading from 23 March following official government guidance during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The value for food, household goods and other non-food items all increased sales on the month by 15.3%, 18.0% and 16.4% respectively, showing strong growths when compared with the previous year (at 3.3%, 1.0% and 4.2% respectively).

In contrast, clothing items declined dramatically in March 2020 at negative 28.4% in comparison with a moderate increase of 3.3% in March 2019. Consumers appeared to be focusing on essential purchases to stockpile, with clothing suffering as a result.

Comments from food store retailers suggested that panic buying, or stockpiling during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, was a big factor in the increased sales, particularly for supermarkets. Store closures were a reason provided by smaller food stores for reduced sales, although a small number did diversify with delivery-only orders.

Source : Insight DIY Team and ONS

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