Retail sales in Singapore dipped 1.9 percent year-on-year in November, an improvement from the revised 8.5 percent fall in October, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Tuesday (Jan 5).
Excluding motor sales, retail sales decreased 2.9 percent in November compared to the 11 percent decline in October.
This was mainly due to multiple sales events such as Singles’ Day (11.11), Black Friday as well as new mobile phone launches, said SingStat.
Compared to the previous month, seasonally adjusted retail sales also improved, expanding 7.3 percent in November compared to the 0.2 percent increase in October.
Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales grew by 9.8 percent compared with the 0.1 percent increase in October.
On a year-on-year basis, most retail industries continued to register declines in November. Cosmetics, department store, as well as apparel and footwear sales, declined between 22.3 percent and 27.5 percent as these industries continued to remain affected by low visitor arrivals.
Meanwhile, computer and telecommunications equipment, along with furniture and household equipment saw growths in sales of 29 percent and 28.5 percent respectively. This is due mainly to higher sales of mobile phones and household appliances, said SingStat.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets saw a growth in sales of 22.6 percent, while sales of recreational goods rose 13.1 percent, due to higher demand for groceries and sporting goods.
Growth in sales in most retail industries in November
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, most retail industries recorded growths in November.
Computers and telecommunications recorded higher sales of 59 percent from new mobile phone launches.
Watches and jewelry, department stores, as well as furniture and household equipment recorded higher sales of between 13.4 percent and 20.7 percent.
In contrast, motor vehicles recorded a 5.2 percent decline in sales during this period.
The estimated total value of retail sales in November was about S$3.6 billion, of which 14.3 percent was spent online, an increase from the 10.5 percent recorded in the previous month.
“The higher online retail sales proportion was due to the online shopping events in November such as Singles’ Day,” said SingStat.
Source: Channel News Asia.