Retail sales grew faster than expected in January, recovering about half the losses suffered when a wave of coronavirus cases caused many shoppers to stay at home during December.
Retail sales volumes rose by 1.9% in January after a 4.0% decline in December,the largest rise since lockdown rules for non-essential stores in England were relaxed last April.
The figures showed that some pandemic trends have been slowly reversing. The percentage of sales made online fell to 25.3% in January, its lowest since March 2020 although still well above the 19.8% seen in February 2020 before the pandemic.
Food sales also fell below pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
“Despite falling consumer confidence, retail sales held up well in January as retailers went to great lengths to keep up the Christmas momentum. Sales of non-food items, including clothing, furniture and household goods all grew by high double digits. Meanwhile, food sales dropped – though this is compared to January 2021, when most of the country was in lockdown and households were unable to eat out.
“Falling Covid cases and the slow return to offices offer further hope for town and city centres that were hardest hit by the pandemic. Yet, rising inflation means households may be preparing for future falls in disposable income, including from April’s National Insurance and energy price cap rises. Retailers face similar challenges, with increases in transport and energy costs, global commodity prices and domestic wages. While retailers are going to great lengths to mitigate or absorb these cost increases, it is inevitable that prices will rise further in the future.”
