The British Retail Consortium (BRC) have revealed that according to its latest figures overall retail sales grew in February but food sales ‘stagnated’ due to rising costs.
The organisation said that the pandemic has meant much of retail bounced between being open and closed, significantly impacting sales and changing consumer behaviours.
Over the three months to February, food sales increased 0.1% on a total basis and decreased 0.3% on a like-for-like basis. This is below the 12-month total average growth of 1.7%. For the single month of February, food was in decline year-on-year.
Overall, retail sales increased by 6.7% in February, against an increase of 1% in February 2021. This is ahead of the 3-month average growth of 6.5% but worse than the 12-month average growth of 11.3%. On a two-year basis, total retail sales grew 4.9% during February compared with the same month in 2020.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the BRC, said: “The future is looking increasingly uncertain, with current demand unlikely to be sustained. Consumer confidence, falling in recent months, will likely tumble further against the backdrop of the current geopolitical events.”
Susan Barratt, the CEO of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), added: “Food and drink sales put in a resilient performance in February and although the market isn’t performing at the same rate as the lockdown-boosted growth of 2021, it remains elevated compared to 2020.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
