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SINGAPORE: Retail sales in Singapore fell 10.8 percent year-on-year in September, the Department of Statistics (SingStat) said on Thursday (Nov. 5), a steeper drop compared to the 5.4 percent drop in August.
The biggest drop in September was primarily attributed to the IT and telecommunications equipment industry, which posted lower mobile phone sales compared to the high base in September last year when there were new phone launches, SingStat said.
Sales of computers and telecommunications equipment fell 22.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Retail Sales Index released Thursday.
Compared to the prior month, seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 4.5% in September 2020. Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales decreased 4.2%.
Food and beverage sales also fell in September, according to the Food and Beverage Services Index, falling 29.9% year-on-year in September, compared with 28.1% in August.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, F&B service sales decreased 1.2 percent month-on-month in September.
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(Table: SingStat)
DECREASE IN STORES BY DEPARTMENT, GROWTH IN SUPERMARKETS
Most retail industries continued to post a year-on-year drop in sales in September.
Department stores posted a 39.8% year-on-year drop in sales and a 4.3% drop month-on-month.
The latest retail sales index comes about a week after Robinsons announced the closure of its last two outlets in Singapore after more than 160 years of operations here.
READ: Comment: We mourn the loss of Robinsons because he was a key piece of our childhood
Cosmetics, toiletries and medical supplies retailers, as well as clothing and footwear retailers, also reported drops in sales of 30% and 28.4% year-on-year, respectively.
There were some positives, with higher demand for groceries, furniture and sporting goods driving growth in three sectors.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets posted year-on-year growth in sales of 17.9 percent, while sales of furniture and household goods increased 10.9 percent and sales of recreational items increased 6 percent.
READ: Do department stores still have a future in Singapore?
The total estimated value of retail sales in September was S $ 3.2 billion, of which online retail sales accounted for about 11.2 percent.
REJECT IN THE WHOLE A&B BOARD
Year-on-year declines were recorded in all industries in the food and beverage sector.
Catering services billing decreased 78.2% year-on-year in September, a larger contraction compared to the 70.6% drop in August, as demand for event catering remained low.
(Table: SingStat)
“On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales of catering services fell 26.9 percent (month-on-month) in September 2020 due to a slowdown in demand for catering services from foreign workers’ dormitories,” SingStat said.
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Sales fell 33.1% year-on-year in restaurants and 17.6% in cafes, food courts and other places to eat. Fast food outlets posted a 13.9 percent drop in sales in September.
The total value of sales of F&B services in September was estimated at S $ 629 million. Of these, online food and beverage sales accounted for about 20.4 percent.
