Britain's retail sales plummet as lockdown measures take hold

Retail sales in the United Kingdom declined at the worst rate on record last month following government lockdown measures to battle the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to an industry report.

Total sales fell 4.3 percent in March compared with the previous year, according to the British Retail Consortium, resulting in the sharpest decline since records began in 1995.There was a sharp contrast between sales before and after the lockdown measures, which were put in place on March 23.

In the first three weeks of March, retail sales grew 12 percent but declined 27 percent in the last two weeks of the period.

The trade association said the early part of March saw an "unprecedented surge" in demand of food and essentials, only to decline significantly into negative growth as high streets were left deserted following lockdown and social distancing in stores.

Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: "The closure of non-essential shops led to deserted high streets and high double-digit declines in sales which even a rise in online shopping could not compensate for."

But as more people move to homeschooling and working remotely, sales of computers and accessories, board games, and fitness equipment all rose sharply.

"In contrast, demand for the latest fashion ranges significantly declined," Dickinson said.

She said the retail industry is at the epicenter of the crisis, that "the tremors will be felt for a long while yet" and that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk.

"Many physical non-food retailers have been forced to shut down entirely or to limit themselves to online only to protect customers and staff, " she said. "Consequently, hundreds of thousands of jobs at are risk within these companies and their supply chains. We welcome the government's actions to date, yet millions of livelihoods rely on their continued support."

Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG, said: "Lockdown has prompted a fundamental rethink of what is deemed essential. Total sales may 'only' be down 4.3 percent, but the sharp divide between food and non-food, and between physical and online, is far more drastic."

A separate report from Barclaycard, a UK credit card company, found consumer spending dropped 6 percent year-on-year in March as measures to tackle coronavirus were introduced.

It found supermarket spending up 21 percent and for specialist food and drink stores by 30 percent.

Spending on travel fell by 40 percent and fuel fell by 4 percent as more people stay at home.