Despite the doom and gloom and negative statistics stemming from the cost of living crisis, retail sales in May jumped compared with the same month pre-pandemic.
Retailers, restaurants and pubs enjoyed a so-called “welcome boost” over the four-day Jubilee weekend, with footfall (number of shoppers or customers) up 6.9% compared with May’s average and 17.1% for the full week to Sunday, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic Solutions.
Thursday was the best day, with a 45.6% improvement on the month’s average.
Barclaycard payments, which account for nearly a third of all UK card spending, reinforced the rise, with a 41.5% hike in spending at restaurants compared with the prior year.
Rob Cameron, Barclays Payments chief executive, said: "Despite wider concerns around the cost of living, the hospitality sector especially will be pleased by this welcome boost having missed out on two years of unrestricted trading."
In the four weeks to 28 May, total retail sales grew 6.2% compared with the same period in 2019, the BRC confirmed.
Although figures released on Tuesday by the BRC showed both in-store and online sales dropped in May, for the second consecutive month and retail revenues dropped 1.1% compared with May 2021.
The spending spree has been tipped to be short-lived as household budgets are being further squeezed by soaring inflation, driven by unprecedented fuel and energy costs attributed largely to the Ukraine war.
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, commented: “Sales continued to see declines as the cost-of-living crunch squeezed consumer demand.
“Higher value items, such as furniture and electronics, took the biggest hit as shoppers reconsidered major purchases during this difficult time.
“Nonetheless, fashion and beauty did well as people prepared for holidays abroad and the summer’s social calendar.”