Retail sales jump but supermarkets suffer from outdoor dining restart

Retail sales jumped significantly in May, boosted by the reopening of ''non-essential' shops midway through the month.

Retail sales jumped significantly in May, boosted by the reopening of "non-essential" shops midway through the month, but grocery and supermarket sales suffered a rare dent on the return of outdoor dining.

Latest CSO figures show retail sales increased by 44%, year-on-year, last month. This was measured against when the Government was only just looking at ways to come out of last year’s first bout of lockdown. When measured against May 2019, last month’s sales volumes were up 6.8%.

Volume of Retail Sales up 1.8% in May 2021https://t.co/1UuEQqQppl #CSOIreland #Ireland #RetailSales #Services #Retail #Business #BusinessStatistics #IrishBusiness pic.twitter.com/Ta2edf0bUS

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 28, 2021

Sales of clothing, electrical goods, food, drink and tobacco, hardware and DIY supplies and supermarket products all, predictably, grew against the same month’s reading in each of the last two years; while the likes of pubs and department stores suffered.

But, latest Irish grocery market data, from research group Kantar, show that the reopening of outdoor dining earlier this month has since dented supermarket sales.

During the 12-week period to June 13, grocery sales declined by 5.7%, year-on-year. Online grocery sales fell by 4.4% in the last four weeks – marking the first drop since March of last year – as shoppers returned to physical shops. 

The overall drop in grocery sales – down 7% in the past four weeks alone – was attributed to the reopening of pubs and restaurants, for outdoor consumption, in early June.

According to Kantar, sales of home cooking ingredients fell by almost 15% and shoppers spent €94.4m less on alcohol in supermarkets as they were offered the chance to eat and drink away from home.

“Grocery sales may be lower than last year, but we are still a far cry from normal life. Spending in the latest 12 weeks was an incredible 17.6% higher than before the pandemic and the average Irish household spent €218 more on groceries than 2019,” said Kantar retail analyst Emer Healy.

A similar dip in grocery spend, as bars and eateries reopened, was recently seen in the UK. Irish retailers are expecting sales to dip when the hospitality sector fully reopens.