Consumers have been battling the rising cost of living in a high inflation environment and. The intense load shedding also has an impact on retailers operating hours.
While consumer inflation moderated in January, it was at 6.9% well above the Reserve Bank’s target bracket. On the other hand, unemployment remains high at 32.7%. Five out of the seven retail categories recorded decreases in sales volumes. The largest negative contributors to this decrease were retailers in food and beverages followed by hardware stores.
“Food and beverages recorded the deepest decline at negative 7.3% year on year and once again we saw clothing and footwear holding the fort in the month of January with an increase in volumes of 2.3% year on year and this category was supported by general dealers who saw their volumes increase by 0.3% year on year. These two categories might have benefited from a back-to-school related spending in the month of January.
It’s expected that retail trade sales will remain weak in the months to come. This as household finances continue to be under pressure as a result of the rising cost of living and wage increases fail to keep up as companies’ input costs rise as they make arrangements for alternative energy sources as the load shedding drags on.
The food prices are insane! It increased monthly and now weekly 🤔It can't go on like this.
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Source: ITNewsAfrica - 🏆 27. / 59 Read more »
Source: ITNewsAfrica - 🏆 27. / 59 Read more »