Retail sales soared in April as Brits came out of third Covid-19 lockdown
The amount of money changing hands in stores across the UK jumped 9.2 per cent in April compared with March as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions eased and most retailers could reopen, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
Compared with April 2020 – at the height of the first Covid-19 lockdown – sales were up 43 per cent and still up 9.9 per cent compared with the last month of trading before the Covid-19 pandemic hit
Unsurprisingly, e-commerce companies dominated their bricks-and-mortar rivals throughout the pandemic, the shopping data showed.
Online-only retailer sales were up 56 per cent when compared with April 2019.
Last month’s continuation of working from home for many, alongside reduced travel, meant petrol stations suffered, with sales down 13.3 per cent compared with the same month two years ago.
But as businesses eye a hybrid working style and high streets begin to reopen, “the easing of lockdown has been just the excuse the Great British public needed to head out and buy a new outfit or two,” financial analyst Danni Hewson said.
“The latest retail sales figures show the lifting of restrictions on non-essential retail has been just the tonic for ailing businesses and that the much-discussed pent up demand is real.”
The retail sector enjoyed a 69.4 per cent surge in April, with non-clothing stores seeing sales jump 25.3 per cent from March.
“Clothing stores saw a particularly strong bounce back as consumers refresh their wardrobes ready for the summer,” Premier Miton UK growth fund manager, Jon Hudson, agreed.
“Petrol sales were also given a boost as workers began to drift back into offices and the opportunity for socialising and indulging was presented. So far so good for physical retail, and online sales were down 5.6 per cent,” Hewson added.
Retail sales were up 42.4 per cent year-on-year in April thanks to pent-up demand, according to chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, Howard Archer.
“Meanwhile, food stores saw a decline of 0.9 per cent month-on-month, having grown over the previous three months.
“It is evident that the various restrictions on non-essential retailers throughout the pandemic have given extra impetus to an already-rising underlying trend for online sales,” Archer noted.