Retail sales slump with fourth consecutive month of negative sale

• January saw retail sales fall -0.8%, failing to offset 2023’s disappointing ‘Golden Quarter’
• In-store sales fell by -4.2%, as storms battered the country during the coldest January in a decade
• Homewares sector continues to struggle, with a significant fall of -8.4%

Total like-for-like retail sales fell -0.8% in January across discretionary spend categories, according to new data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker. This marks the fourth successive negative sales performance since October 2023 after a poor performance for retail’s crucial ‘Golden Quarter’.

Sophie Michael, Head of Retail and Wholesale at BDO, commented: “The sector saw very poor sales in the last three months of 2023 – the so-called ‘Golden Quarter’. Retailers across discretionary spend categories would have been hoping that January discounting might provide a much-needed boost to sales, but unfortunately this wasn’t the case.”

BDO’s report showed that despite online sales increasing +3.2%, this was offset by a -4.2% drop for in-store sales, with shoppers choosing to stay at home as much of the country faced storm disruption during the coldest January in a decade.

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