Homeware high street sales up for third straight week

Homeware sales remained in positive territory on the high street for a third consecutive week.

According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose by 8.30% for the week ending 12 March 2023.

Homeware total LFLs climbed by +11.42%, but failed to offset last year’s negative base of 16.05% for the same week last year. This week denoted the category’s second positive result for 2023 so far, following modest growth last week.

Store homeware sales were up by +14.82% from a rebounding base of +53.80% for the same week last year, marking the category’s ninth consecutive positive result and its highest since the week including Christmas Day in 2022.

Total in-store LFL sales were up by +7.33%, from a base of +20,432.51% for the same week last year. Total non-store LFL sales soared by +17.28%, offsetting its base of -12.89% for the same week last year.

Commenting on the results, BDO said: “As snow set in for many areas non-store returned the channel’s highest growth since the third week of December 2021. Non-store LFLs were positive across segments, resulting in a third consecutive week of upward growth for total non-store sales. The base figure appears overblown as it was in comparison to a significantly low base result in the corresponding week in 2021 when physical trading ceased due to a pandemic-related lockdown.

“The UK saw freezing conditions this week with temperatures plummeting in some areas as low as -16°C together with sleet, ice and snow from Storm Larisa. The same week last year saw Spring-like conditions with sunshine, broken clouds and light showers amidst slightly warmer temperatures.”

The wintry weather may have contributed to somewhat dampened in-store sales, as footfall declined by -2.3% this week compared to the equivalent week last year, its lowest result since the penultimate week of December 2022. Shopping centres growth was flat, up only +0.9%. High street footfall saw the sharpest fall as it slumped by -4.7%, while retail parks footfall saw a slight drop of -0.3%.

Save this article for later

You can revisit this article if you save it as favourite news!

Leave a Comment

MORE ARTICLES

Andy Baxter, Managing Director at Maze, talks about new product updates as the UK garden furniture continues to evolve....