Retail sales see green shoots over March, despite ‘challenging’ landscape

Retail sales edged up in in March, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, with small rises registered across both food and non food revenues.

However, the organisation pointed out that Easter falling in April this year, compared to March last year, resulted in an artificially higher April.

Total retail sales were up 1.1% year on year, covering the five weeks from 2 March to 5 April, compared to growth of 3.5% in March 2024.

Food sales increased by 1.6% over the period, against a rise of 8.3% the same time last year, while non-food revenues nudged up 0.6% against a drop of 0.4% in March 2024.

In-store non-food sales rose marginally by 0.1% year on year in March, compared to a rise of 0.1% in March 2024. Online non-food sales increased by 1.8% over the period, against a drop of 1.4% in March 2024.

BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said: “Despite a challenging global geopolitical landscape, the small increase in both food and non-food sales masked signs of underlying strengthening of demand given March 2025’s comparison with last year’s early Easter.

“The improving weather made for a particularly strong final week, with gardening and DIY equipment flying off the shelves.”

She continued: “Jewellery and beauty products were helped by Mother’s Day, though sales of bigger ticket items like furniture remained weak.

“Retailers are making final preparations for Easter, with food expected to be the big winner next month.”

Dickinson highlighted that retailers had to deal with “£5bn of new government-imposed costs as a result of increases to the National Living Wage and National Insurance” since the start of April.

“This rises to £7bn when the new packaging tax comes into effect in October and will undoubtedly increase inflation later in the year and hold back critical investment in high streets across the country,” she said.

“Government has ample opportunities to kick start that investment by ensuring that no shop pays more as part of their planned reforms to business rates and that the Employment Rights Bill doesn’t reduce the availability of entry level and part time jobs. Investment and growth are what the economy needs right now.”

Last week, the BRC reported that retailers faced a challenging March as shopper footfall dropped across the UK, as economic uncertainty, a delayed Easter, and rising inflation dampened consumer confidence.

Data from the BRC and Sensormatic found that total UK footfall fell 5.4% year-on-year last month, compared to February’s marginal 0.2% dip.

Earlier this month, it also revealed that the cost of employing staff in entry-level roles had jumped by more than 10% for retailers across the country.

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