Singapore retail sales – excluding motor vehicles – fell 4.5 per cent year on year last December, a slightly higher decline than November’s 2.8 per cent. 

Month on month, sales were down 0.7 per cent. 

Statistics Singapore estimates total retail sales value at SGD3.5 billion (US$2.62 billion) and that online retail sales accounted for 12.6 per cent of that. The strongest categories online were computer and telecommunications equipment, accounting for 35.2 per cent of the category’s overall turnover, furniture and homewares (23.4 per cent) and supermarkets (11.8 per cent). 

Most retail industry categories posted declines in sales in December on a year-on-year basis. 

Cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods; department stores; and apparel and footwear recorded falls of between 22.8 per cent and 35.4 per cent, as they continued to be impacted by low tourist numbers.

However, supermarkets and hypermarkets, computer and telecommunications equipment, and furniture and homewares recorded growth rates of between 20.8 per cent and 25.3 per cent, due mainly to higher sales of groceries, mobile phones and household appliances respectively. Sales of recreational goods rose 10.3 per cent, largely driven by strong demand for sporting goods.

Sales of food and beverage services fell 16.5 per cent in December, year-on-year, which was a lesser rate than November’s 22.4-per-cent decline. 

Online orders made up 19.9 per cent of the estimated total spend of $800 million.