Retail Sales Near Pre-lockdown Levels in June
UK retail sales were near pre-lockdown levels in June, as the reopening of shops released pent-up demand. The amount of goods sold last month increased by 13.9% from May, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
But the rise masked “big changes” in retail, with food and online sales up, while clothing was still “struggling”.
Online sales continued to go “from strength to strength”, the ONS said, accounting for £3 out of every £10 spent by consumers.
Demand at food stores remained strong, hitting new highs for the pandemic period.
Compared to February, the volume of food sales was 5.3% higher while non-store retailing grew by 53.6%.
The rise followed record falls in April and a partial recovery in May as the coronavirus pandemic led to widespread shop closures and hit spending.
The ONS said the rebound had brought overall retail sales back to a similar level to where they were pre-lockdown, but it added that there was a “mixed picture” in different store types.
In June, non-food stores, including department stores and clothes shops, partially recovered from strong falls during the lockdown but were still 15% lower than in February.
Non-essential shops in England were not allowed to reopen until 15 June, so they were only trading for half the month.
Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy national statistician, told the BBC that there had been “some really big changes under the surface” of the retail landscape since lockdown began.
“Food shops continue to do quite well, as we’re eating at home more,” he said. “But the real growth has been in online sales. Online sales continue to go from strength to strength. We’ve had record online sales – £3 in every £10 of retail sales is now spent online and that’s a really big increase.”