KEPLER RETAIL INDEX (KRI) week ending 21/02/2021 Worldwide pandemic, a blip on the bricks-and-mortar retail sales radar

There seems to be an innate human behaviour to be outside, socialise and to be more specific shop in brick-and-mortar retail. According to NAB Online Retail Sales Index: December 2020 in the 12 months to December, Australians spent $44.18 billion on online retail, a level that is around 12.6% of the total retail trade estimate.

The graph below, shows brick-and-mortar store sales as a % of total retail sector (including grocery, liquor, takeaway, homewares, appliances, department stores, personal and recreational, and fashion). We can see that during the first lockdown throughout June that brick-and-mortar sales dropped to approximately 90%. We can see a similar drop in November which accounts for the Victorian lock down, but again we can see the recovery through December and January.

All this data shows that, even going through a world-wide pandemic, brick-and-mortar retail still produces approximately 90% of retail sales. This is not to say online isn’t important, its to say brick-and-mortar is not going anywhere anytime soon.