Retail sales fell in June despite boost in food and drink sales over Jubilee weekend

Cost of living crisis continued to push down retail sales in the month of June as well despite the jubilant sales of food and drink sales over Queen’s jubilee weekend.

According to the Office for National Statistics, sales volumes dipped 0.1 percent in June, despite a 1.2 percent rise in food and drink sales. The drop is majorly attributed to a slide in clothing sales as well as consumers’ reluctance to purchase furniture and other big ticket items.

Petrol sales, hit by a 20 percent increase in prices, slumped by 4.3 percent, and in a further blow to retail, a fall of 0.5 percent in May was revised down to 0.8 percent.

The ONS said in its release today (22)  that consumers’ appetite for buying goods online also continued to wane last month after the proportion bought over the internet fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic.

The proportion sales that were made online fell to 25.3 percent in June, its lowest since the 22.8 percent recorded in March 2020, continuing a broad downward trend since its peak in February 2021 of 37.4 percent.

Earlier this month, the British Retail Consortium business group said most retailers were experiencing a significant drop in sales despite the Jubilee weekend, which mainly benefited supermarket chains.

“The continuing slide in consumer spending is another blow to a retail sector already grappling with increasing costs and decreasing customer spending,” The Guardian quoted Lynda Petherick, the head of retail for Accenture in the UK and Ireland, as saying.

“Many businesses will have been hoping that the Queen’s platinum jubilee and the long weekend would have given them cause for celebration, but it clearly wasn’t enough to offset battered consumer confidence.”