Retail sales jump but supermarkets suffer from outdoor dining restart

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

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%.