Since July when social-distancing was relaxed, retail sales appear to finally be on the up.
Although reports still indicate a year-on-year decline of 7.7 per cent, this is significantly better than June’s fall of 24.2 per cent and May’s 52 per cent. Department stores have been hard hit by low tourism due to Covid-19 restricting international travel with profits declining by between 21 per cent and 32 per cent year on year within apparel, footwear, jewellery and watches.
Food and beverage services has recorded turnover fell by 25.4 per cent which is a vast improvement on June’s decline of 43.6 per cent.
However, supermarkets have seen a rise of 28.6 per cent and phone sales have also risen by 27 per cent.
Despite the recovery of the retail sector occurring slowly in Singapore, there are clear signs of growth here that indicate the industry is on the road to recovery.
