Retailers witness six months of negative sales

Total in-store and online sales fell 2.2 percent in March, marking the sixth consecutive month of negative sales results, according to new data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.

According to BDO data, the last six months mark the longest consecutive period of negative growth outside of the Covid-19 pandemic. In-store sales were down 1.8 percent, negative for the fourth month in a row driven by sharp falls in both fashion and homewares sales. Non-store sales were also down 2.3 percent, following three successive months of positive results.

Commenting on the negative trend, Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: “These results continue to paint a bleak picture for retailers. Despite both the Easter bank holiday weekend and Mother’s Day falling in March this year, these results serve as a stark reminder of the pressure the sector is under.”

Fashion was the only non-store category to see positive results in March but the growth of 1.5 percent failed to offset the negative in-store sales, which declined by 6 percent.

The homeware sector fell by 10.9 percent, while the lifestyle sector posted a slight improvement of 0.9 percent compared to the same month last year.

“Going into April, retailers will see their costs rise even higher with the uplift in the national minimum wage and increased business rates leaving very little room to spend on investment, promotions or other ways of encouraging consumer spending. Elsewhere, there are reports that order levels fell in March and are expected to fall further in April, showing no signs of appetite for consumers to increase discretionary spend,” added Michael.