Mixed news for high street as sales volumes drop but values rise

Thursday 12 June 2014

Retail sales in Jersey have fallen again with a 1% drop in the last 12 months.

The fall is the tenth in the last 11 quarters, according to the Retail Sales Index.

But the same figures have also thrown up a conflicting message – they say that the value of sales has increased by 2%, the biggest 12-month increase recorded since the middle of 2011. They also say that food sales were up slightly higher than non-food sales over the last 12 months.

The figures – compiled by the States statistics unit – follow an online survey earlier this month that said that Jersey households are spending an average of £7,000 a year online, and that total online spending by Islanders per year is around £258 million.

Around 560 people completed the survey, and two-thirds said they had shopped online a lot more last year compared to the year before, and were choosing to shop away from the high street for convenience, price and the product range and choice available in shops outside of the Island.

Around half of the Island’s clothing and footwear is now being bought online, as are household goods like furniture and furnishings and more than half of Islanders are internet shopping for electronic goods, books and downloads.