Turnover fell particularly in the food sector. There was an 8% drop in turnover. Sales volume was 3% lower. Especially specialized shops such as butchers and dairies had to contend with lower sales volumes. However, those businesses managed to keep their turnover on par with a year earlier. Specialty shops are known to have gained popularity since the corona pandemic. Especially when the restaurant business has kept its doors closed.
Supermarkets convert more. But even large-scale distribution has had to deal with the decrease in volumes. The increase in turnover is due to the increase in prices.
Drugstores and clothing and footwear stores reported an increase in both turnover and volumes. But the overall picture of the so-called non-food sector was that of a contraction in sales volumes. Furniture stores, home improvement stores, and consumer electronics and appliance stores, among others, reported lower year-over-year revenue. Volumes also declined in these branches. In furniture stores, volume decreased by 17%.
Online sales
Online retail sales increased 3% year over year. There was still a decline in the first half of the year. Just like specialist shops, online shops have clearly outsold themselves in the corona time. The companies managed to maintain the highest sales volumes in the first half of 2021. This means that the comparison with the first half of this year is somewhat flawed.
Failures
According to Statistics Netherlands, 47 bankruptcies were declared in the retail sector in the third quarter of this year. More than double the year before, when there were 19 bankruptcies. The number of bankruptcies is lower than in the same period before the corona pandemic. Retail companies accounted for about 10% of the total number of bankruptcies in the third quarter.