UK’s Retail Sector Eagerly Awaits Reopening, Lays Hopes on Pent-up Demand
With the UK set to ease its lockdowns next week, the retail sector is hopeful that it could recoup some of the severe losses on account of pent-up demand among consumers. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last March, the UK has gone through three rounds of lockdowns so far, which have caused around £30 billion worth of losses to retail stores.
However, retailers are hopeful that consumers would be keen on spending the savings accrued by staying home for the past few months and would be eager to embark on shopping sprees soon. UK’s PM Boris Johnson laid out the economy’s reopening plan, allowing for retail outlets and outdoor dining facilities to resume operations starting from April 12.
CEO at British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickinson, notes, Savings have been building up over lockdown, and the economic recovery relies on retailers being able to unlock the pent-up demand in the economy. Government should do all it can to support consumer confidence both ahead of, and during opening.”
Research by the BRC reveals that consumer footfall across retail outlets in the UK declined by 68.7% in March 2021 when compared with March 2019, but footfall posted an increase of 4.9% on a monthly basis. The improvement on a monthly basis points to an uptick in consumer confidence even as non-essential retail stores remained closed through last month.
April’s performance will be closely monitored as it can offer reliable insight into consumer spending and confidence once all retail outlets reopen. Additionally, the any possible uptrend will need to be sustained over a longer period of time for the retail sector to rebound properly.
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