The closure of non-essential retail in the UK, now extended for another three weeks, equates to 382m sq ft of physical space out of action – space that would have generated GBP14.5bn (US$18.1bn) of revenue over that period based on 2019 sales, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.
“Measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the community is hitting non-food retailers the hardest, particularly clothing specialists, which account for 36% of these lost sales,” says Maureen Hinton, global retail director at GlobalData.
“While some of these sales will have transferred online, the majority will not be recovered, speeding up the demise of the weakest operators and the permanent closure of even more retail space.”
The three-week lockdown extension is expected to push down UK fashion spend by a further GBP1.4bn specifically, with UK clothing and footwear spend now forecast at GBP39.7bn (US$49.6bn) for 2020, a decline of 26.1% on 2019. This is a further GBP1.4bn drop on GlobalData’s prior forecasts on 6 April 2020.
The sector is likely to be worst hit by the coronavirus and has seen department store group Debenhams fall into administration earlier this month, while UK-based fashion and accessories retailer Monsoon Accessorize has also said it is weighing up options to secure the business’s future.
Online clothing brand Harpenne, which is owned by UK high street retailer River Island, has also permanently closed less than a year after its launch.
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By GlobalData
