Fridges and furniture are driving a mini boom in retail

A SPIKE IN sales of household goods like furniture and electrical items have pushed retail figures into an increasingly strong start to the year.

The latest figures from the CSO show total retail sales in April were up more than 5% by volume on the same time last year.

The fastest growing categories were sales of furniture and lighting, which increased nearly 17% in volume, and electrical goods, which jumped more than 13%.

Davy analyst David McNamara said the numbers pointed to a strong start to the second quarter for the Irish consumer after a monthly fall during March.

Retail sales were now not far off their 2007 peak by volume, but it was a different story when it came to the value of that stock turnover. The total by price was still down 14% on the previous high.

“Some sectors have been forced into sharp discounting during the downturn, while others have passed on structurally lower input costs to consumers,” McNamara said.

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Sectors that bucked the trend of falling prices and delivered strong growth in sales value included motor trades, up nearly 8% in the past year, and bars, which posted a more than 6% rise.

The largest fall came in the fuel industry, in which low oil prices drove sales income down 9%. Combined food, drinks and tobacco sales also fell nearly 2% in value since April 2015.

Separate figures out earlier this month from Visa Europe also showed a major bounce in annual spending on household goods, although it recorded even-larger increases in spending on recreation and culture activities, and transport and communications.

New car sales have also been booming so far this year, with industry body SIMI putting the increase at 28% over the first three months of 2016 compared to the same period 12 months earlier.

McNamara said further gains in retail sales were expected as the unemployment rate had been falling rapidly and wages were also edging upwards.