CCR2 Future Trends
Death of the high street?
2020 was the worst year ever for retailers – but online sales soared
David Jinks Head of consumer research, ParcelHero David@
ParcelHero.com
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail figures reveal 2020 was the worst year on record for retail, but a huge success for online sales. The December’s figures reveal that the tills did still ring out for Christmas – but largely online.
Grim reading The figures released make grim reading for retailers, revealing a slump of -1.9% in the volume of sales during 2020 when compared to 2019. That is the largest year- on-year fall on record. In contrast, the value of online sales played its part in preventing an even greater disaster, up 46.1% compared to 2019.
High volumes The ONS retail figures for December show that the volume of goods bought last month was up just 0.3% on November, unimpressive considering stores were reopened following lockdown in November. Once again, however, home deliveries
helped save the day. E-commerce gained 29.6% of all retail sales for the month. Online sales were up an eye-popping
61.4% compared to December 2019 with online food up 126.4% year-on-year. British consumers largely feasted on
turkey and trimmings bought online this Christmas.
Trend The surge in online food sales in December simply reflects a year-long trend. With their
30
The figures released make grim reading for retailers, revealing a slump of -1.9% in the volume of sales during 2020 when compared to 2019. That is the largest year-on-year fall on record
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online sales up by 79.3%, food stores reported the largest sector increase for the entire year. You have to look hard through these
figures to see any sign of a merry Christmas for High Street retailers, but there was one glimpse of hope. December’s online sales actually fell back -6.2% compared to November. The reopening of physical stores after
Lockdown 2 in November did encourage shoppers back to the High Street in early December for a brief flurry of shopping.
Dead-end In January 2017, ParcelHero released 2030: Death of the High Street, a high-profile report that was discussed in Parliament. We said that, unless retailers developed
an omnichannel approach that embraced both online and physical store sales, the High Street as we know it would reach a dead-end by 2030. These latest ONS retail figures show that the coronavirus pandemic has only hastened its demise. Ultimately, these latest results reveal that,
whatever the time of year, no retailer can afford not to maintain a balanced approach to in-store and online sales, as the pandemic continues to rage and the fortunes of physical stores yo-yo between lockdowns. Only stores that embrace their website
as their most important shop window and ensure their online service matches the standards of their in-store experience will survive. CCR2
February 2021
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