According to the Office for National Statistics, thanks to the relaxation of restrictions on the COVID-19 epidemic, England, Wales and Scotland all reopened non-essential retail in April one by one. In April, total retail sales in the UK increased by 9.2% month-on-month. 

Compared with the retail sales of 21.7 million pounds of furniture and lighting in April, which was closed due to the epidemic last year, this April increased by 402% to 10.9 billion pounds.

Karen Johnson, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom, commented: “How do we compare our lives now to 12 months ago? In the past year, British retailers’ destiny has changed drastically. Many people hope that the ban on closing the city and closing non-essential shops will pass quickly."

"There have been many encouraging signs that the purchase of non-essential goods has increased significantly compared to last year, although panic purchases during the lockdown period were less than last year, which also means spending on groceries and other necessities. It has actually slowed down."

The latest online retail data from the sales statistics website Salesfire shows that in the one month since England and Wales opened non-essential retail stores, the focus of e-commerce store operations has shifted to customized discounts to maintain the demand for online shopping. Compared with the previous month, between April 12 and May 12, orders from online retailers in the UK dropped by 7%.

Discounts on online stores are largely favored by shoppers, and brands use holiday deals as gimmicks to increase the number of visits to their websites. On Bank Holiday Monday, a holiday when banks are closed for all citizens, the sales of furniture in household and household goods stores increased by 38%, indicating that people are considering decorating their homes during the holidays.

Salesfire CEO Rich Himsworth said: "Although many consumers whose offline shopping needs have been suppressed for a long time choose to return to shopping streets, it is not surprising that online shopping can still maintain rapid growth. Now, most consumers are used to working from home and valuing the convenience of online shopping."