March’s BDO high street sales statistics revealed the tracker’s sixth month of negative results, the longest run of negative sales growth outside of the pandemic.
The only non-store area to have increase in March was fashion, but even that was not enough to counteract poor in-store fashion sales, which fell by 6 per cent. The rise in the category was only 1.5 per cent.
Mother’s Day and the four-day Easter vacation weekend did not appear to have any impact on sales, however it’s possible that they would have had a negative effect. In any case, the combined like-for-like sales for the fashion, home goods, and lifestyle categories decreased by 2.2 per cent in March. After three months of slightly increasing, in-store sales declined by 1.8 per cent for the fourth straight month, while non-store sales also decreased by 2.3 per cent.
Sophie Michael, Head of Retail and Wholesale at BDO, commented, “These results continue to paint a bleak picture for retailers. Despite both the bank holiday weekend and Mother’s Day falling in March this year, these results serve as a stark reminder of the pressure the sector is under.”
