Not much has changed in the UK fashion retail world since 2020 – at least that’s what 2021 has so far indicated.
Stores are still closed across the country and restrictions continue to be tighter. To make matters worse, weather hasn’t been kind either. Expectedly, sales are slow and low in most parts of the country.
The like-for-like fashion and footwear sales have slumped by 15.5 per cent year-over-year in the week to 7 February 2021.
This was, reportedly, confirmed in a report by BDO, which is an accountancy and business advisory firm in the UK.
The in-store like-for-like fashion sales too fell by a whopping 91.9 per cent during the same period.
The period also saw total like-for-like sales across fashion, lifestyle and homeware sector dip by 7.5 per cent. Total in-store sales were also massively hit, with a fall of 81.3 per cent.
Tighter restrictions and poor weather brought down the footfall by 63.2 per cent during the said period. While shopping centres saw footfall slump of 72.3 per cent, high streets saw a fall of 71 per cent. Retail parks too saw a decline of 36.6 per cent in footfall.
However, the total non-store sales, as anticipated, did very well with a huge surge of 179.9 per cent.
It will be sometime before the retail sector comes back to the old glorious days.
