UK retail sales weakened even before coronavirus lockdown
Bad weather kept shoppers at home in February
February’s bad weather kept shoppers at home and resulted in a fall in UK retail sales across most types of shops even before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the closure of all non-essential shops.
The volume of retail sales, measured by value adjusted for inflation, dropped 0.3 per cent in February compared with the previous month according to data from the Office for National Statistics. In the three months to February, sales were down 0.6 per cent compared to the previous period.
“Retail sales continued to decline in the latest three months due to weak sales across most store types, with February’s bad weather and flooding impacting on footfall” said Rhian Murphy, ONS head of retail sales.
In February, there was no growth in sales when compared with the same month the previous year, marking the lowest annual growth in six years.
The data collection for the period was completed by February 29, before the outbreak of the coronavirus, which the ONS said was observable only in a small number of retailers reporting that online orders shipped from China were reduced because of the virus.
Data released on Wednesday by the Confederation of British Businesses suggest that in March the coronavirus crisis boosted sales of food and drinks as people stockpiled for the quarantine and resulted in a plunge in spending in non-essential items.