Brick-and-mortar stores felt the love in February with sales boosted by Valentine’s day, although online retailers ASOS and boohoo were given the cold shoulder.
Data from BDO’s high street tracker said like-for-like store sales grew in the four weeks to 26 February by 11.3% compared to January, and up 4,906% compared to last February, when like-for-like sales were rebounding from the 2021 lockdown.
Non-store like-for-like sales fell by 1.2% from the previous month, the first time it fell into the red since September 2022, while it fell 19.4% compared to the same period last year.
The third week of February, which also included Valentine’s Day and half-term for most schools in the UK, reported the “strongest in-store sales so far this year.”
Footfall in February, however, was mixed.
“Positive footfall at the start of the month culminated in week three with the highest growth in 41 weeks.”
“In stark contrast, week four delivered the sharpest fall in overall footfall since the week ending 21 March 2021” and the first negative footfall since 18 December 2022," said BDO.