The volume of sales went down by 8 percent. The measures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus led to the largest turnover decline ever recorded in the non-food sector. On the other hand, turnover in the food sector was up relative to January 2020. Online retail turnover increased by over 92 percent.
Retail turnover data have been adjusted for changes in the shopping-day pattern. Retail sales tend to vary from one day to the next. If the shopping-day pattern is not taken into account, retail turnover in January 2021 was 7.8 percent lower than in the same month last year.
In January, turnover in the non-food sector showed an unprecedented contraction of 37.7 percent year-on-year. This is the largest turnover decline (adjusted for shopping days) since the beginning of publication in January 2005. The volume of sales (adjusted for price changes) fell by 39.3 percent compared to the same month last year.
Within the non-food sector the picture was very mixed. Shops selling clothes, footwear and leather products experienced a turnover decline of over 50 percent. Shops selling recreational goods, furniture, home furnishings and consumer electronics saw turnover declines of between 33 and 50 percent.
For many shops the only option to achieve any turnover was selling online. Shops selling personal care products recorded over 4 percent more turnover compared to the same month last year.
In January 2021, shops selling food, beverages and tobacco achieved 8.6 percent more turnover than in the same month last year. The volume of sales increased by 7.3 percent. Supermarkets saw year-on-year turnover growth of 9.7 percent. Turnover of specialist shops remained virtually the same year-on-year.
In January 2021, online shops recorded 92.1 percent more turnover than in the same month last year. This is the strongest growth since the start of publication of this number in January 2014. This is true for both web shops and multichannel retailers (retailers selling goods and services over the internet as a side activity).
Web shops recorded a turnover increase of 65.9 percent; their core activity is selling goods and services over the internet. Multichannel retailers achieved 128.7 percent higher turnover in online sales. ■