Follow us

Menu
PARTNER WITH USFREE NEWSLETTER
VISIT TheIndustry.beauty

Clothing & footwear sales drop as consumer confidence continues to decline in Q1

Lauretta Roberts
16 April 2018

Clothing & footwear sales dropped by -2.7% in March capping off a miserable first quarter of 2018 for overall consumer spending which was at its lowest level for five years.

According to the latest Visa UK Consumer Spending Index, March's -2.7% year-on-year drop for clothing & footwear followed a drop of -2.3% in January and -1.5% in February.

Overall consumer spending was down -2.1% year-on-year, following a -1% drop in February, while face-to-face spend was down -3.0% on the year and e-commerce was down by -1.2%.

Mark Antipof, Chief Commercial Officer at Visa, pointed to the adverse weather conditions in March as a contributing factor to the depressing numbers but, as the BRC and Springboard pointed out earlier today when they announced a -6% footfall drop in March, that was far from the full picture.

“The negative impact that the ‘Beast from the East’ had on UK economic activity last month has been widely reported, but this doesn’t entirely explain March’s lacklustre consumer spending. We are in the midst of a dip in consumer confidence and this – coupled with other economic factors – is causing shoppers to continue to restrain themselves," said Antipof.

"High street sales suffered once again, however it is also noteworthy that e-commerce spend fell for the first time in 10 months, and by its fastest rate since 2012. That said, it is too early to read a great deal into this year-on-year decline, which should be viewed in the context of high growth rates in early 2017,” he added.

Free NewsletterVISIT TheIndustry.beauty
cross