Irish retail sales crashed by nearly 13 per cent in March, their worst monthly performance since January 2009, as consumers were forced to restrict their activity as a result of coronavirus.
The fall would have been considerably worse only for panic-buying ahead of the Government-enforced lockdown, which led to a spike in supermarket sales.
As the economy heads for one of the deepest contractions in decades, Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show retail sales volumes declined by 12.7 per cent month on month in March and by 11.1 per cent on an annual basis.
Bar sales were hardest hit, dropping by a record 53.1 per cent. Store closures also hit sales of sales of clothing, footwear and textiles, which dived by 49 per cent, while sales at department stores fell by 25.8 per cent.
Car sales, which were weak to begin with, were down 30.7 per cent while sales of books, newspapers and stationery slumped 29 per cent.
The latest figures, however, showed that some sectors, including supermarkets, experienced a massive hike in sales as people stockpiled ahead of the lockdown.
Sales in non-specialised stores, which includes supermarkets, jumped 14 per cent while sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores, excluding supermarkets, rose by 17 per cent.
Sales of hardware, paints and glass also jumped by 13.3 per cent as people stuck at home turned to DIY. Pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles also rose by 8.8 per cent.
The crisis has led to a big increase in online sales. The CSO said online sales now represented 4.3 per cent of the total turnover for all businesses covered by its dataset, the highest online share since collection of this breakdown began. The CSO’s numbers, however, exclude online sales by companies that deal exclusively online, such as Amazon, and are therefore only a partial reflection of the online trade.
Some 15.3 per cent of all sales in the electrical goods sector were sold online, up from 12.9 per cent in February.
