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Online retailers took a hit in November as Royal Mail strikes pushed shoppers towards physical stores.

Black Friday and Christmas shopping failed to boost sales at British retailers in November, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said retail sales volumes fell 0.4% last month, indicating a much weaker-than-expected month and following a 0.9% rise in October.

Out-of-store retailers, which mostly means online stores, suffered a 2.8 percent drop in sales volumes in November.

Postal workers have been on strike for two days of the period covered by the latest ONS data, on Thursday and Friday, November 24 and 25.

Meanwhile, sales volumes for department stores increased 1.7% during the month, while sales volumes for home goods stores (such as furniture stores) increased 4.4% in November.

Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said: “Retail sales fell overall in November, driven by a marked decline in online retailers, with Black Friday deals failing to provide the sector’s usual boost.”

Charlie Huggins, Head of Equity at Wealth Club, said:

Stores are doing better than online, perhaps with help from the Royal Mail strikes.

All eyes now turn to the crucial Christmas period. The Royal Mail strikes should continue to provide some festive cheer to traditional retailers, by encouraging more last-minute shoppers to shop.

Sales volumes in November were 4.5% lower than at the start of the year, resuming a downward trend that was briefly interrupted by the rebound after Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

Olivia Cross, Assistant Economist at Capital Economics, said:

Although inflation has likely peaked, we believe higher prices will continue to keep retail volumes low.

We suspect a sustained recovery in retail volumes is on the way.

Although inflation fell from 11.1 percent in October to 10.7 percent in November, that clearly did not relieve much of the pressure from rising prices on retail volumes.

We expect higher inflation to lead to further declines in real household disposable income by 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022, which should keep sales volumes subdued in December.

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