{"id":164684,"date":"2021-04-23T08:39:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T08:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/retail-sales-boosted-as-shoppers-buy-new-outfits-ahead-of-lockdown-easing\/"},"modified":"2021-09-13T12:42:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T12:42:55","slug":"retail-sales-boosted-as-shoppers-buy-new-outfits-ahead-of-lockdown-easing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/retail-sales-boosted-as-shoppers-buy-new-outfits-ahead-of-lockdown-easing\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail sales boosted as shoppers buy new outfits ahead of lockdown easing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Retail sales in March beat expectations,<\/strong> with shoppers spending more in fashion in anticipation of being able to socialise again, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed the amount spent by shoppers increased 7.3% in March and quantity bought rose 7.2%<\/strong> compared with the same month a year earlier \u2013 just as the first Covid-19 lockdown started.<\/p>\n Sales were also up 5.5% compared with February and saw March mark a return to sales levels beating pre-pandemic figures,<\/strong> unlike January and February \u2013 despite non-essential retailers remaining closed.<\/p>\n Non-essential stores reopened this month (on 12 April) with footfall reaching higher than anticipated levels. According to recently release data from Springboard, retail footfall\u00a0rose by +87.8% in the first week of reopening compared to the week before,<\/strong> with footfall levels\u00a0across all UK retail destinations is now just -25.4% lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic level. A further boost is expected when indoor hospitality reopens on 17 May.<\/p>\n