The coronavirus crisis has led to 2020 being the worst on record for UK retail sales growth.
This is according to the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG figures, which showed that total sales declined 0.3% compared with 2019 - the lowest since they began statistical coverage in 1995.
Food growth was 5.4%, while the non-food sector decline stood at 5% during 2020 - with in-store sales of non-food items declining 24% year-on-year.
On a total basis, sales increased by 1.8% in December, against a growth of 0.2% in December 2019.
UK retail sales increased 4.8% on a like-for-like basis from December 2019,
Online non-food sales increased by 44.8% in December, against a growth of 6.7% in December 2019. During 2020, online non-food sales increased by 36.2% compared with 2019.
The overall non-food online penetration rate in 2020 was 46.1%, up from 31.1% in 2019.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson commented: "Christmas offered little respite for retailers, as many shops were forced to shut during the peak trading period.
“With shops still closed for the foreseeable future, costing stores billions in lost sales, many are struggling to survive.
"To avoid the unnecessary loss of shops and jobs, government should announce an extension to business rates relief for the worst-affected businesses as soon as possible,” she added.
Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG, said that last month there were again big swings in the types of products being purchased and the channels used for shopping, with much of the growth taking place online, where nearly half of all non-food purchases were made.
“Further restrictions and the closure of many non-essential shops resulted in a dismal December performance for those retailers on the high street and conditions will continue to be challenging as we enter another national lockdown.
”Looking ahead, fortunes will be mixed, but pent up savings and a successful vaccine roll out will help support recovery in the retail sector later in the year.”
