Retail sales in march higher than expected

March 2021 saw a surprising rebound in retail sales in constant prices, with retail spending up by 15.2% year-on-year, says global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield in its retail market summary for the first quarter of 2021. The three months to March 2021 also witnessed a marked increase in online sales, particularly of textiles, and in sales in specialized stores.

Retail sales in constant prices in March 2021 were up by 15.2% year-on-year compared to an 8.9% decrease in March 2020. Although the point of reference for the March 2021 data from GUS (year-to-year) is March 2020, a period of the hardest lockdown, the scale of recovery surprised analysts. In March 2021, retail sales rose by 15.0% compared to February 2021. In January-March 2021, sales were up by 1.2% year-on-year against a 0.8% growth in 2020.

With restrictions on physical retail in force in January and March 2021,  the share of online sales in total retail sales stood at 9.8% and 9.5%, respectively, compared to 8.6% in February 2021.

Online sales continue to show strong growth across such categories as “textiles, fashion and footwear” and “press, books and other sales in specialised stores”. Online shopping for food, beverages and tobacco is least popular.

Visit https://info.cushmanwakefield.com/l/263412/2021-04-30/3rn6r4 to download the full report.

Author:

Cushman & Wakefield

Last Updated on May 26, 2021 by Łukasz