Since the pandemic gripped the world 5 years ago, the retail sector has changed beyond recognition. Consumers expectations and behaviour, including the increased cost of living expenses, have meant that retail outlets are looking at ways to get and retain customers.

The UK government recently released a research briefing with figures which show that the
Retail sector economic output was £111.8 billion in 2023, 4.5% of the UK’s total economic output and a 1.2% increase on the previous year.
There were 2.7 million jobs in the retail sector in 2022.
There were 324,995 retail businesses as of 1 January 2024.
 It also shows that in 2024

retail sales in Great Britain were worth £517 billion, an increase of 1.4% on 2023. For every pound spent in 2024:

  • 39 pence was spent in food shops – a 1% rise on 2023
  • 11 pence was spent in clothing shops (including textiles and footwear) – a fall of 0.1% on 2023
  • 9 pence was spent on automotive fuel – a fall of 0.2% on 2023
  • 7 pence was spent in household goods shops (including electronics and furniture stores) – a fall of 4.7% on 2023

During the lockdown period non-essential stores had to remain closed and the figures show that during the rest of 2020 and 2021 there was no stable trend for figures. Internet sales had (since 2008) been on the increase year on year, but it is worth noting in the briefing paper that they state the UK is unique in the popularity of its internet retailing compared to the rest of Europe.

This paper is grim reading with details of store closures including, 34 retail companies with multiple stores ceased trading in 2024, affecting 7,537 stores and 55,914 employees. This was the highest number of stores affected in a calendar year since the Centre for Retail Research have been collating this data in 2007.