For the first time in over two years, the UK’s shops and stores have experienced a consecutive fall in monthly sales.
According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes slipped by 0.2 per cent in April. This follows on the heels of a 0.4 per cent decline in March.
However, the drop was not as large as the 0.5 per cent predicted, perhaps indicating that the slowdown in consumer spending may not be quite so entrenched as some analysts have feared.
Compared with April a year ago, spending last month rose by 4.2 per cent, although the figure may have been skewed by this year’s early Easter.
Taken on a quarterly basis, the three months from February to April saw sales up by 1.5 per cent on the same period in 2007.
The travails of the High Street were in contrast to online retailing.
The poor weather in April helped prompt an 85 per cent rise in online spending on clothes compared with a year ago, the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index has reported.
Anthoula Madden, vice president at Capgemini UK’s consumer products and retail team, said: “Our retail clients have continued to report strong online sales, even in light of the unsure economic environment.
“It is clear that online is a key survival channel for traditional High Street retailers to ride out poor weather periods and tough trading conditions.”
Date:22 May 2008
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