Retail sales plunge in post-Christmas trading - BDO survey
By Sean Farrell
Date: Friday 08 Jan 2021
(Sharecast News) - Like-for-like UK retail sales plunged in the first week after Christmas as the Covid-19 lockdown thwarted plans for January sales in stores, a survey showed.
Sales from outlets open for a year or more fell 10.7% in the week to 3 January compared with a 13.4% jump a year earlier, according to the BDO high street sales tracker.
In-store sales plunged by 64% while non-store business doubled, reflecting a partial switch to online shopping. The period covers the week before the new strict coronavirus lockdown but with many areas subject to tight restrictions.
"With much of the UK under lockdown rules, many physical retail stores will have been unable to roll out normal seasonal promotions this week," BDO said. "The result was a sharp drop in footfall."
Visits to shops dropped 57% with high street footfall suffering the biggest decline of 65% from a year before. Footfall at shopping centres plunged 62% and visits to retail parks, which have fared better during the crisis, fell by a third.
The survey showed Britain's retailers struggling even before the severe lockdown imposed from Wednesday, closing non-essential stores nationwide. Reporting a near-halving of footfall in the final quarter of 2020, the British Retail Consortium on Thursday called on the government to extend support for retailers during the crisis.
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