Shoppers cut back last month as the cost of living crisis forced households to rein in unnecessary spending.
Figures out today from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales fell by 1.4% between February and March, nearly five times worse than analysts were predicting.
Online sales crashed nearly 8%, put down to people reducing discretionary spending in the face of a jump in essential bills such as food and energy.
That followed a 6.9% fall in the volume of goods bought online in February.
And the amount of fuel bought dropped by 3.8% as drivers cut back on non-essential trips to save money following a leap in petrol prices.
It came as a survey by pollsters GfK found consumer confidence is in freefall.
People are more worried about the outlook for the wider economy than they did in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “Retail sales fell back notably in March, with rises in the cost of living hitting consumers’ spending.”
The ONS said recent surveys found 54% of adults reported spending less on non-essentials due to an increase in the cost of living.
The amount bought in supermarkets and other food shops fell 1.1% last month.
As well as saving money, the ONS said the decrease was also due to others with money still to spare eating out and socialising due to Covid-19 restrictions coming to an end.
Experts suggest more falls could be on the way.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at consultants Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “March’s substantial fall in retail sales volumes looks like the start of a period of weakness in consumers’ spending, rather than just a blip.”
He added that it probably meant a future Bank of England base rate rise was likely to be less than first thought.
