Retail sales hit by wet weather and early Easter holidays
- Retail sales fell 4% year over year in the four weeks ended April 27
- Easter fell much earlier than normal in 2024, artificially increasing the demand for food
Soggy weather conditions and an early Easter weekend caused UK retail sales to fall last month.
The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor shows sales fell 4 percent year-on-year in the four weeks ending April 27, compared with growth of 5.1 percent in 2023.
Easter fell much earlier than normal this year, artificially boosting demand for food, cookware and tableware in Britain in March.
Wet conditions: bad weather in April depressed sales of DIY and garden furniture, but also shoes and clothing, especially outdoor sportswear and summer clothing
As a result, food purchases weakened the following month, although they still grew 4.4 percent in the three months through April.
Non-food sales also fell year-on-year last month as Britain experienced its wettest April since 2012 and one of the wettest Aprils on record.
The bad weather depressed sales of DIY and garden furniture, but also of shoes and clothing, especially outdoor sportswear and summer clothing.
Linda Ellett, the UK head of consumer, retail and leisure at KPMG, noted that Britons are “much slower to let go of their wallets than they have tightened, choosing to save or pay down debt.”
She added: ‘The positive sales figures in March due to an early Easter demonstrate the importance that triggers such as warmer weather, events and occasions can have in helping to deliver the necessary impact needed to get consumers spending again. ‘
But there was growing demand for technology goods, which Helen Dickinson OBE, CEO of BRC, attributed to consumers upgrading the products they bought at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She added that many businesses are “hoping for better sales over the summer months as social events increase” and that consumer confidence will increase if the Bank of England chooses to pull the trigger on interest rate cuts.
The BoE raised UK interest rates fourteen times in a row between December 2021 and summer 2023 in response to rising inflation, mainly caused by rising energy prices.
Although inflation has more than halved, from a four-decade peak of 11.1 percent at the end of 2022 to 3.2 percent in March, high mortgage costs and high gas and electricity bills have put pressure on purchasing power.
The central bank is expected to cut interest rates later this year, with the first cut possibly coming as soon as Thursday.
In addition to a rate cut, Ellett says retailers want warmer weather and strong performances from England and Scotland at the upcoming European Football Championship in Germany.