BIRA expresses disappointment over drop in retail sales volume

The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) today (21) expressed disappointment over drop in retail sales volumes in the UK between February and March were “disappointing”.

BIRA, which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, commented on the figures release by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which revealed that department and clothing stores particularly suffered during this time frame, which was the wettest March since 1836.

Also suffering due to the poor weather was sales at food shops, as these fell by 0.7 per cent following shortages of some products.

But BIRA said the poor weather wasn’t only to blame.

Andrew Goodacre, BIRA CEO said that these figures are very disappointing and reflect much of the feedback we have received from indie retailers throughout the UK. The weather has had a negative impact but there can be no doubting that we are seeing the impact of reduced consumer spending.

“Very high inflation on essential like food (19 per cent last month) means that shoppers have less money to spend on other more discretionary items such as clothing.

“These figures also come at a time when costs for small retailers will increase significantly with increases in National Minimum Wage and especially energy costs. The government support for energy costs has effectively ended and this will result in real business pressures faced by the businesses and clearly increased sales will not compensate.

“I urge the government and the energy suppliers to rethink their approach to reducing the burden of energy on the smaller businesses. We hope sales will improve in the second half of the year, but we fear that we may lose many businesses before that materialises,” he added.

Earlier this week, the ONS confirmed that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation has dropped to 10.1 per cent from 10.4 per cent the prior month.

However food prices have soared due to factors such as the war in Ukraine, meaning that prices of grains and vegetable oils have increased. There has also been a rise in transport and packaging costs.

Some of the sharpest rises have been in olive oil which have risen by 49 per cent, milk by 38 per cent and ready meals by 21 per cent.