In the last five quarters, the increase in turnover of retailers, compared to a year earlier, was due to higher sales prices. The first quarter of 2022 was the last quarter that retailers also sold more compared to the same period a year earlier.
| Description | Turnover (% change from a year earlier) | Volume (% change from a year earlier) |
| Non-food | 3,5 | -4,6 |
| Drugstores | 10,3 | 0,7 |
| Recreational items | 6,3 | 0,2 |
| Clothing stores | 3,4 | -7,7 |
| Shops selling shoes and leather goods | 2,8 | -0,4 |
| Furniture and home furnishings | 2,2 | -5,1 |
| DIY stores, kitchens, floors | -0,6 | -8,1 |
| Consumer electronics, white goods | -1,3 | -7,8 |
More turnover in the food sector, but fewer sales
In the second quarter, sales in the food sector increased by almost 10% compared to a year earlier. Prices have increased sharply in recent quarters. The volume of sales decreased by almost 3%. Nutrition specialty stores in particular sold less ( -6.5% ) than in the same period a year earlier.
In the non-food sector, sales increased by more than 3% compared to the second quarter of 2022. Sales volume decreased ( -4.6% ). Do-it-yourself stores, consumer electronics stores and white goods and clothing stores in particular sold less. For each of these branches, the volume in the second quarter was about 8% smaller than in the same period a year earlier.
In the second quarter, retailers’ online sales increased by more than 4% compared to the same period a year earlier. Multichannelers (retailers with both online sales and through a physical store) generate more than 5% more turnover. Sales increased less at stores that sell exclusively online. Yet there was a sales growth of almost 4% in the second quarter of 2023.
Fewer retail bankruptcies
In the second quarter of 2023, 59 retail companies were declared bankrupt. The number of bankruptcies was therefore lower than in the first quarter, when 86 bankruptcies were pronounced. The total number of pronounced bankruptcies increased ( from 728 in the first quarter of 2023 to 797 in the second quarter ). Of all bankruptcies declared in the second quarter, 7% were retail companies. In the first three months of 2023, this share was still 12%.
Source: CBS
Photo: Shutterstock
