Fashion
Retail sales in Singapore fell by 8.6 percent year-on-year in October, said the Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Friday (Dec 4), although the decline was not as steep as the revised 10.7 percent fall seen in September.
Most retail industries continued to register declines in sales in October. Food and alcohol, department stores, as well as cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods continued to be among the hardest-hit sectors, with takings down by 44.7 percent, 35.2 percent, and 30 percent respectively, according to the Retail Sales Index released on Friday.
Wearing apparel and footwear, as well as watches and jewelry fell by more than 20 percent.
The best-performing sector was again supermarkets and hypermarkets, with sales up by 22.3 percent.
Takings also improved for the furniture and household equipment, recreational goods, motor vehicles, and mini-marts and convenience stores sectors.
Compared to the previous month, seasonally adjusted retail sales expanded 0.2 percent, with most sectors reporting growths.
Takings at petrol service stations increased the most at 5.1 percent as more people returned to the workplace. In contrast, retailers in the watches and jewellery; cosmetics, toiletries, and medical goods; and food and alcohol recorded a decline in sales.
The estimated total value of retail sales in October was about S$3.3 billion, of which 10.5 percent was spent online.
Food and beverage sales continued to decline in October as well on a year-on-year basis, although they showed a seasonally adjusted month-on-month improvement across the board, according to the Food & Beverage Services Index.
“Sales of food and beverage services fell 23.5 percent in October 2020 on a year-on-year basis, an improvement over the 29.1 percent decline in September 2020,” SingStat said. “On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales of food & beverage services increased 5.6 percent in October 2020 over the previous month.”
Food caterers again suffered the biggest drop in year-on-year turnover – 76.4 percent – although they saw a 6.4 percent increase in sales compared to September.
“The total sales value of food and beverage services in October 2020 was estimated at S$692 million,” SingStat said. “Of these, online food and beverage sales made up an estimated 19.7 percent.”
