UK Retail Sales Report summary
May 2024
Period covered: Period covered: April 2024
3 minute read
Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Become a member to access this data or take out a free 30 day membership trial now.
Retail sales
Retail sales plunged into decline in April, with sales down by xx% year-on-year according to the Retail Economics Retail Sales Index, impacted by the earlier timing of Easter, poor weather and fragile willingness to spend.
Key factors impacting sales in the month include:
The timing of Easter: Preparations for Easter shifted into March this year, unlike previous years, negatively impacting April sales, particularly in food, homewares and gift-related categories.
Adverse weather: Unsettled wet and windy weather led to the wettest April since 2012, impacting footfall alongside national rail strikes. This heavily impacted new season spring/summer Clothing & Footwear lines and deterred DIY & Gardening projects.
Fragile willingness to spend on retail: Persistent, elevated borrowing costs, as the Bank of England's base rate remains at a xxxx high of xx%, continued to affect spending on big-ticket non-essential items, including home-related categories. Fragile willingness to spend comes despite real wage growth, lower levels of inflation and a cut in National Insurance Contributions in April leading to a general improvement in confidence.
Footfall slides in wet weather
Easter timings considered, April sales still came under pressure, including from unsettled weather. Warm temperatures in the month were sporadic, resulting in a broadly stormy and wet month, with 55% more rainfall than normal leading to the wettest April since 2012 (Met Office).
It saw households delay typical spring spending even as retailers discounted heavily. And led Clothing & Footwear sales to plummet into deeper declines as shoppers were unable to be tempted into spring/summer lines.
On top of this, nationwide and localised rail strikes in early and mid-April impacted people’s ability to go to physical shops in key destinations.
Coupled with the earlier Easter holidays and adverse weather, footfall declined xx% year on year across all retail destinations (MRI Software). This contributed to the online proportion of sales ticking up to xx% in April from xx% a year earlier.
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Sales slip in wet weather
Source: ONS, Retail Economics analysis
