Four of the seven retail categories included in the index contracted on a year-on-year basis, with food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores, as well as furniture, appliances and equipment remaining flat.

Consumers spent a lot less at hardware and general dealers in August, which is driving down retail trade sales.

Stats SA released its latest retail trade data on Wednesday, showing sales in this sector had contracted by 0.5% year on year in August 2023, although not by as much as consensus projections of a 1.2% year-on-year slump (Bloomberg).

The biggest contributors to this decrease were general dealers (-3.8%) and hardware, paint and glass retailers, which were down by 5%.

Seasonally adjusted, there was a slight uptick in retail trade sales (up 0.2% in August compared with July 2023), with 0.4% increases in June and July.

Year on year, retail trade sales were down by 1.1% in the three months ended August 2023 compared with the three months ended August 2022.

Once again, the biggest drags on sales were general dealers (-3.9%) and retailers in hardware, paint and glass (-6.7%). Textile, clothing, footwear and leather goods retailers showed healthy growth of 9.2% over the same period, although seasonally adjusted, retail trade sales were up only by 0.2% in the three months ended August 2023 compared with the previous three months.

Textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods were up by 3% while...