2 minute read
Retail Sales Monitor
by 55 North
Food sales struggle in January
Data shows food sales have started 2022 on a downbeat note.
Food sales decreased 0.1% on a total basis and 0.5% on a like-for-like basis over the three months to January, new data reveals.
The latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor also shows that food sales were in decline year-on-year.
Susan Barratt, Chief Executive of IGD, said: “After a welcome uptick in food and drink sales at Christmas, 2022 has started on a downbeat note with sales struggling to match those of January 2021. Although it was always going to be a hard benchmark as we were in the peak of a third national lockdown in January last year, with food and drink sales surging as a result.”
She added: “With the cost of living rising at its fastest rate in 30 years, our ShopperVista insight reveals that 89% of shoppers expect food to get more expensive in the year ahead. Coupled with the energy price cap set to rise sharply from April, some 39% of shoppers expect to be worse off financially in the year ahead, up 8% from last month. Therefore, we can expect more shoppers to increasingly focus on tightening their spending in the months ahead.”
The data also showed that total UK retail sales increased 8.1% on a like-forlike basis from January 2021, when they had increased 7.1%.
Paul Martin, UK Head of Retailat KPMG, said: “With Covid restrictions now eased, and people heading back toworkplaces, retailers will be hoping consumer confidence remains robust to help offset the rising cost challenges that they are likely to experience for a while.
“We could see a challenging few months ahead if wider macroeconomic conditions start to squeeze household incomes to the point that they start cutting back on retail spending. Retailers are facing their own inflationary pressures and will need to take tough decisions on whether and how to pass on the increase costs they have been sitting on for some time to consumers facing their own financial challenges. We could easily see the health of the sector start to deteriorate if consumers choose to sit on savings to weather the storm.”
