Retail sales continued to grow in February
Retail sales increased in February as categories such as fashion, furniture and jewellery performed well.
According to figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, total sales grew by 6.7% in February against an increase of 1% in February 2021. However, total sales were up 4.9% compared to the same month two years ago.
Looking at like-for-like sales, these climbed by 2.7% from February 2021 when they had increased by 9.5%.
Over the three months to February, food sales edged up 0.1% on a total basis and decreased by 0.3% on a like-for-like basis. However food sales were in decline for the single month of February .
Meanwhile, non food retail sales rose by 12% on a total basis and by 6.9% on a like-for-like basis over the same three month period.
Helen Dickinson BRC chief executive, said: “February saw continued sales growth, although dampened by Storm Eunice and falling consumer confidence. Traditional try-before-you-buy products, like furniture and home accessories, as well as fashion and jewellery, continued to be the highflyers as more people returned to stores.”
Over the three months to February, in-store sales of non-food items grew by 71.2% on a total basis and by 57.2% on a like-for-like basis. However, sales were down 7,5% on a total basis compared to two years ago, but up 3.1% like-for-like.
Meanwhile, online non-food sales decreased by 28.4% during February versus growth of 82.2% in February 2021. When compared to the same month two years ago, sales in the category rose by 26.9%.
Dickinson added: “While online sales remained down on last year, the new spending habits driven by the pandemic have settled into a new normal, particularly for non-food, with four in every ten pounds now spent online compared to three in every ten before the pandemic. Retail has driven five years’ of digital transformation in 24 tumultuous months.”
