Retail Excellence has published its report on retail sales for the first and second quarters of this year.
The report features data from 4,500 stores across the State, including sales figures from market research company GFK.
Commenting on the report Duncan Graham, managing director, Retail Excellence said: "The Industry has seen the sharpest decline in sales in living memory with all non-essential retail closed across the state for nearly three months. Clothing and footwear stores and coffee shops were among the worst effected with sales down over 75%."
"The demand for groceries surged in March as people responded to the start of the lockdown period by ‘panic buying’ and the sector continued to trade strongly through Quarter 2 as restaurants remained closed," he added.
Online Shopping Increase
The data showed that customer shopping habits changed dramatically during the period as people shopped online.
Online shopping grew by 200% as ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers expanded their online offering.
"We welcome last week’s July Stimulus which will help one of the hardest hit Industries, but there will be more support needed in the future," Graham added.
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