Homeware sales remained down on the high street once again, as overall sales also fell with weather impacting footfall.
According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like (LFL) sales fell by 8.82% for the week ending 17 March 2024.
Homeware total LFL sales dropped by -11.98% this week from a base of +4.72% for the same week last year, denoting the fifth consecutive negative result for homewares and its ninth so far in 2024.
Store homewares LFL sales slipped by -10.10% this week from a solid base of +23.93% for the same week last year, which marks the tenth negative result for the category so far in 2024.
Total in-store LFL sales collapsed by -12.67% from a strong base of +16.09% for the same week last year. Total non-store LFL sales decreased by -1.83% from an already negative base of -0.30% for the same week last year.
Commenting on the results, BDO said: “Both store and non-store sales were in negative territory this week, dragging total LFL sales to the lowest point since March 2023. With footfall negative across board this week, total store LFL results reached the lowest since March 2021 when the country was still in the pandemic.
“The weather this week was a mixture of chilly conditions with milder spells alongside intermittent rainfall. During the same week last year, the UK saw a mix of mild conditions with rainfall and occasional cold air and strong winds.”
Overall footfall dropped by -4.3% compared to the same week last year. Footfall declined across board with shopping centres seeing the sharpest drop (-8.4%), followed by retail parks with -4.7% and high streets with -2.2%.
