It really was an Austerity Christmas - retail sales slumped -5.8% YOY in December

20th January 2023

As the home delivery expert ParcelHero predicted, December 2022 was the Austerity Christmas. Brits slashed spending as inflation and household bills rose. The amount of gifts and other items we bought in December fell by -1% compared to November and a startling -5.8% YOY.

[url=https://caithness-business.co.uk/article/19004]The Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail figures[/url] for December have confirmed experts' fears that it would be a blue Christmas for retailers. The amount of goods we bought fell by -1% compared to November and a jaw-dropping -5.8% compared to December 2021.

The amount of money shoppers spent in December also fell by -1.2% compared to November. One of the worst retail performances was online sales, down -8.9% year-on-year and -2.9% compared to December, says the home delivery expert ParcelHero.

ParcelHero's Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘Many retailers will want to forget Christmas 2022. While food sales held up reasonably well, as we all tucked into comfort food through Christmas, non-food stores' sales volumes tumbled by -2.1% against November. As we predicted, shoppers slashed their Christmas spending because of increased prices and rising household bills.

‘E-commerce sales were particularly poor; the amount spent online was down -8.9% YOY and -2.9% against even a lacklustre November. Strikes in the traditional mail sector meant retailers and individuals switched to alternative couriers, and this unexpected extra volume of parcels took some courier networks by surprise. Heavy snow in early December also delayed deliveries.

‘The upshot of this was that shoppers abandoned online in favour of the High Street to be sure they had gifts for the big day. Online sales’ slice of the overall retail cake fell to 25.4%. By contrast, in December 2021, it took 26.6% of the entire retail market.

‘Retailers will be looking for more encouraging numbers in January as inflation begins to slow. Online sellers will also be concentrating on improving the quality of their service, from their website user experience to final mile deliveries. As an example of improved user experience (UX), ParcelHero’s new volumetric weight calculator takes the sting out of sending parcels overseas. It enables customers to calculate the exact volumetric weight they will be billed for - eliminating surprise extra charges once and for all. To check the new easy-to-use tool, see https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/support/volumetric-weight-calculator