Despite the peak of the holiday travel season’s demand, UK apparel stores recorded a monthly fall in sales volume of 4.7 percent in June 2022, down from a gain of 2.2 percent in May 2022, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Following a decline of 0.8 percent in May, overall retail sales volumes decreased by 0.1 percent in June (revised from a fall of 0.5 percent ).
Unadjusted for price adjustments, retail sales values increased by 1.3 percent in June 2022, following an increase of 0.6 percent in May. Total retail sales were 2.2 percent and 14.4 percent higher in volume and value terms than the pre-Covid level in February 2020.
Comparing June 2022 to May 2022, online spending values also decreased by 2.7%. This is due to declines in all subsectors, with the exception of department stores. From 26.4 percent in May 2022, the percentage of internet sales decreased to 25.3 percent in June 2022. This is an extension of a widespread downward trend that began after its high in February 2021. (37.4 percent ). Despite declining in June, the percentage of online sales is still significantly higher than it was in February 2020, when it was 19.7%. (before the pandemic).
