UK retail sales fall in March due to ‘poor weather’

Retail sales in the UK fell in March after seeing a slight uptick in the month prior. General sales volumes were estimated to have fallen by 0.9 percent, with non-food store sales decreasing by 1.3 percent in the same month.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this comes after the sector experienced an increase in February, when general sales volumes rose 1.1 percent and non-food sales went up by 2.4 percent.

Department stores and clothing stores particularly took a hit, with volumes falling 3.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Feedback from retailers cited the cause for the fall to be “poor weather conditions”, which they reckoned affected sales through the month

ONS cited a report by The Met Office, which found that the UK had 155 percent of average rainfall for the month, making this March the sixth wettest on record since 1836.

However, decreases were also seen in the sales volumes for non-store retailing, which also experienced a 0.8 percent fall in the same month.

Despite this, a broader overview of the figures did offer some respite. Sales volumes rose by 0.6 percent in the three months to March 2023 when compared to the previous three months.

It marked the first three-month on three-month rise since August 2021, ONS noted in the report.