The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales figures reveal the amount of goods Brits bought fell -1.2% in June compared to the previous month. Department store spending was most depressed, with sales volumes tumbling by -3.4%.
While the soggy summer may be partly to blame, the volume of non-store (mostly online) sales also slumped by -1.1%, says the home delivery expert Parcelhero. It says this shows that there was no real appetite for spending at all last month.
Parcelhero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, says: “After a slight uptick in May, sales volumes fell again last month. As opposed to the quantity of items purchased, the amount Brits actually spent online also fell in June by -2.7%. Do these lacklustre results reflect a short-term wobble during a snap general election campaign or is there still a lack of confidence among consumers constantly braced for the next big hit to their home finances?
“On the gloomy side, the overall sales volume figures are also down -0.2% year-on-year and, perhaps more significantly, down -1.3% against February 2020, the last results before the pandemic hit the UK. It’s been a rough few years for consumers and that’s reflected in their continued reluctance to open their wallets and purses.
“For online traders, however, there is some positive news. Online sales values were actually up by 2.3% over June 2023, although much of this extra spending will be down to inflation, even though levels are now stabilising. Online sales were worth 27.1% of all retail spending in June. For over two years, online sales have remained consistently around this share of shoppers’ overall retail spend.
“Now the election is out of the way and inflation continues to fall, will consumers choose to believe that things can only get better under the new government? Or will consumer sentiment continue to remain cautious as everyone waits to see how the economy fares?
“One certainty is that it will be those retailers with strong in-store and online sales that will ultimately triumph in a post-Covid world. Parcelhero’s influential report “2030: Death of the High Street” has been discussed in Parliament. It reveals that retailers must develop an omnichannel approach, embracing both online and physical store sales.”
Read the full report at: https://www.parcelhero.com/
