Omicron brought Christmas misery to high street shops and retail sales plummeted by 3.7 percent in December.
The festive season saw sales volumes drop sharply due to the introduction of ‘Plan B’, which allows consumers to work remotely and reduces the amount they use for fuel.
The sales of food fell by 1%, but clothing and household stores saw the largest drops. There was evidence that many people stockpiled for Christmas in November to counter fears about chaos in supply chains.
Even with the decline in retail sales, they were 2.6% above February 2020.
However, shops warn the situation may get worse as Britons deal with higher energy bills and increasing prices.
The festive season saw sales volumes drop sharply due to the introduction of ‘Plan B’, which allows consumers to work remotely from their homes. Consumers also stopped filling up their cars with gas.
Heather Bovill from ONS stated: “After November’s strong pre-Christmas trade, retail sales dropped across the board in December. Feedback from retailers suggests that Omicron may have had an effect on footfall.
“Plan B restrictions in England resulted in more people working at home. This led to a significant drop for fuel sales.
“Despite the drop in December sales, the retail sector is still strong than it was before the pandemic. Over a quarter of all sales can now be made online.
Helen Dickinson was Chief Executive at the British Retail Consortium.
However, she cautioned that the situation could worsen this year because of the growing cost-of-living crisis.
“Customers will face significant headwinds in 2022 with rising energy prices, and increasing National Insurance Contributions,” Ms Dickinson stated.
“The remaining disposable income faces increased competition from the resurgence of tourism, eating out, sports, and live music.
“Rising Inflation is decreasing consumer demand, while raising costs for business.
The majority of December’s retail sales decline was due to the non-food retailers, which experienced strong growth in November.