Retail sales values in Britain jump 1.8% in Oct 2022: ONS

When compared with the pre-COVID-19 level in February 2020, total retail sales were 14.2 per cent higher in value terms, but volumes were 0.6 per cent lower. Compared with the same period a year earlier, retail sales volumes fell by 6.1 per cent in the three months to October 2022, while sales values rose by 4.7 per cent.

In the three months to October 2022, sales volumes fell by 2.4 per cent when compared with the previous three months. This is the lowest three-month on three-month growth rate since March 2021, when restrictions were in place.

Clothing stores sales volumes rose by 2.5 per cent in October 2022, 3.7 per cent below their February 2020 levels. Department stores sales volumes fell by 0.3 per cent over the month of October 2022, ONS added.

Non-store retailing sales volumes rose by 1.8 per cent in October 2022, following a fall of 2.5 per cent in September 2022. However, since early 2021, sales volumes had a broad downward trend as the wider economy reopened and people could return to shopping in stores. Non-store retailing refers to retailers that do not have a store presence. While the majority is made up of online retailers, it also includes other retailers, such as stalls and markets.

Online spending values fell by 0.7 per cent in October 2022, because of strong falls across non-food sub-sectors. The value of online spending fell while retail sales as a whole rose, so the proportion of online sales fell slightly to 26.1 per cent from 26.5 per cent in September 2022. The proportion of retail sales online has remained broadly consistent at around 26 per cent since May 2022.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (NB)