Lockdown hit on non-food sector drags November retail sales growth  

British retail sales growth slowed in November when non-essential stores shut as part of a four-week lockdown in England, but online sales were able to fill more of the gap than in the first lockdown in March, industry data showed on Tuesday.

The British Retail Consortium said year-on-year total retail sales growth slowed to 0.9 per cent in November from 4.9 per cent in October, the weakest spending growth since a 5.9 per cent fall in May.

A measure of like-for-like sales – which includes online retail and stores that were able to remain open – rose by 7.7 per cent compared with a year earlier, the biggest gain since June.

“Some retailers were able offset a proportion of lost sales through greater online and click-and-collect sales, ensuring they could still serve their customers,” Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said.

For others, the coronavirus has proved the final straw. Last week 242-year-old department store chain Debenhams said it would close if it could not find a new owner and Arcadia, which operates many of Britain’s best-known high street clothing chains, entered administration.

Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20 per cent during the three months to June, which covered most of the first lockdown, but the Bank of England expects a much smaller 2 per cent decline during the final three months of 2020 in response to more recent closures.

Non-essential shops and most hospitality and entertainment venues had to close to the public in England between 5 November and 2 December, and there were similar restrictions elsewhere in the UK. The BRC data covered 1 November to 28 November.

Barclaycard, which processes around half of British credit and debit card payments, said consumer spending between 24 October and 20 November was 1.9 per cent lower than a year earlier.

The fall in spending masks big differences between sectors.

Spending at supermarkets was up 24 per cent, and online food shopping was 98 per cent higher than a year earlier, while spending in restaurants and pubs was less than half year-ago levels.

Department stores and clothing retailers, many of whom have struggled to sell online, saw drops in spending of 18 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, Barclaycard said.

“The big question now is whether Brits will flock to the high street for Christmas shopping after the November lockdown, providing a much-needed boost in December,” Barclaycard executive Raheel Ahmed said.

Meanwhile, footfall across all retail destinations in England rose by 81 per cent compared to the previous week after a second lockdown ended on Wednesday, allowing non-essential shops to begin trading again, Springboard said on Monday.

Shopping centres saw the biggest boost, with a 121.3 per cent rise from Wednesday, while high streets saw a 79.8 per cent rise and numbers in retail parks were up 40.7 per cent, Springboard said.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard said the rise in shopping centres was not unexpected, as shoppers tended to gravitate towards shopping centres in the run up to Christmas.