Retail turnover 1.5 percent up in August

August 2016 had a Tuesday and a Wednesday more and a Saturday and a Sunday less than in 2015. After correction for the shopping-day pattern, turnover growth was slightly lower.

Better turnover results for supermarkets and specialist shops

Year-on-year, food, beverages and tobacco shops recorded a turnover growth of 1.4 percent in August. Prices were 0.9 percent higher than last year, sales were 0.4 percent up. Supermarkets showed higher turnover growth figures than specialist shops.

Marginal turnover growth for non-food sector

Non-food accounted for a modest 0.5 percent turnover growth in August compared to August 2015, mainly due to higher non-food prices (1.3 percent); sales were 0.8 percent below the level of the same month last year.

Home furnishing shops reported the highest turnover growth, more than 9 percent. DIY shops also performed well. Clothes shops and chemist shops also released positive growth figures on a year-on-year basis, but consumer electronics shops suffered a turnover loss of approximately 7 percent. Traditional shops have to cope with bankruptcies and fierce competition from online retailers.

Apart from the food and non-food segment, the retail sector includes petrol stations and en non-shop retailing (e.g. web shops).

Online turnover continues to grow

Online turnover results are improving continually. Year-on-year growth in August was 17 percent. Web shops generated a whopping 22 percent turnover growth. For web shops, selling goods and services over the internet is their core activity. Turnover growth realised by traditional retailers, for whom selling online is a side activity (the so-called multi-channelers) was 11 percent.