Coronation Drives Unexpected Boost in UK Retail Sales Volumes

The holiday celebrating the coronation of King Charles III contributed to an unexpected rise in British retail sales.

The country’s retail sales volumes rose 0.3% in May, a pace that was slower than the 0.5% seen in April but faster than the decline of 0.2% that had been expected by analysts, Reuters reported Friday (June 23).

Analysts said the unexpected rise also showed that consumers were remaining resilient in the face of an inflation rate that remained at 8.7% in May and that a drop in energy costs was offsetting the price increases seen on other goods, according to the report.

The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that non-store retail sales volumes rose 2.7% in May, driven in part by warm weather that led to an increase in demand for summer clothing and outdoor-related goods.

Food store sales volumes declined by 0.5% due to the rising cost of living and food prices, although consumers spent more on takeout and fast food during the extra holiday that observed the coronation, the ONS said.

It was reported in May that the British government wants supermarkets to cap food prices amid rampant inflation.

The notion of supermarkets instituting voluntary controls on the price of staple foods came out of a meeting between Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen and retailers.

Among the other categories of retail spending, automotive fuel stores sales rose by 1.7% while non-food stores sales volumes fell by 0.2%, per the ONS.

In a measure of the impact of inflation, the amount spent on retail goods in May was 17% higher than that of the pre-pandemic month of February 2020 even though the quantity of goods purchased was 0.8% lower, according to ONS.

The ONS also reported that online sales accounted for 26.5% of retail sales in May, compared to 19.7% in February 2020.

PYMNTS research found that British eCommerce shoppers have a strong preference for at-home delivery, with 86% of these consumers opting to have their most recent online purchases delivered to their homes while only 14% chose the options of curbside or in-store pickup.

The percentage of British consumers preferring at-home delivery is higher than that of five other countries included in the report, “The 2022 Global Digital Shopping Playbook: United Kingdom Edition,” a PYMNTS and Cybersource collaboration.

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