Retail turnover marginally up

13/03/2014 15:00

Retail turnover 0.8 percent up in January from January 2013
Shopping-day pattern accounts for turnover growth
Clothes shops achieve substantial turnover growth

According to the most recent figures released by Statistics Netherlands, retail turnover was 0.8 percent higher in January 2014 than in the same month last year. Volume grew by 0.6 percent, retail prices were 0.2 percent higher in January.

The shopping-day pattern was more favourable in January than in January last year. After correction, retail turnover and volume were at the same level as one year ago.

Turnover generated by the non-food sector was the same as in January 2013. Volume was also the same as one year previously. For the first time since September 2012, the non-food sector did not show negative growth. The results across almost the entire non-food sector were more favourable than in the preceding months, although most branches still reported negative turnover growth rates. Clothes shops, DIY shops and household appliances shops performed notably better, but textile supermarkets underperformed in January relative to the preceding months.

Food, drinks and tobacco shops realised approximately 2 percent turnover growth and nearly 1 percent volume growth compared to January last year. The 2 percent turnover growth was entirely due to the favourable shopping-day pattern. Supermarkets and specialist shops also achieved better results than in January 2013.

Mail-order firms and online shops reported a turnover growth by more than 7 percent in January compared to the same month last year. This is considerably below the turnover growth rate recorded in December, a month when sales are always peaking, but still similar to the growth rates presented in the other months of 2013.