In general, retail sales have now risen above pre-pandemic levels, since July, however the statistics show that many High Street shops are still struggling. Online sales have lowered slightly since the ease of lockdown restrictions but they are still more than 50% higher than in February. Due to the higher volumes of internet shopping, many High Street sales are still not doing well. The best being Household goods stores, with an increasing six percent above February 2020 levels.
DIY products have also sold well this year as people were keen on home improvement projects during lockdown. Whilst areas like fashion, lifestyle and many others falling by over 20% from last year. This issue has especially hit shops that do not deal in online sales and have either forced them to close, struggle on precariously or request government help.
People have been expressing a pent-up need to shop, however if the store does not have an online presence, then they have really missed out on sales this year. The small business sector has been hit the hardest with many collapsing under the extreme pressure of 2020. To help fix this, people really need to focus on supporting small, local businesses and becoming loyal customers.
