After removing the effect of price changes, the total retail sales volume rose 5.9 per cent in the June quarter, when compared with the same quarter a year ago.
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Non-store and commission-based retailing, which includes local online vendors, dragged up volumes, rising 8.1% in the quarter, and slowing from an 8.3% expansion in the March quarter.
Singapore’s retail sales increased by 6.9 percent in June on a year-on-year basis, mainly due to a spike in sales of motor vehicles, the department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) said on Friday.
The volume of non-store and commissioned-based retailing jumped 36% in the year, for a 35% gain in the value of sales, while the volume of electrical and electronic goods climbed 14% for a 4% increase in the value of sales. “Retailers are reporting that business has been steady, but not stellar through until the end of June”, Retail NZ Chief Executive Mark Johnston said today.
Seasonally adjusted sales volumes and values rose just 0.1 per cent in the June quarter compared with March.
The first quarter’s sales were boosted by a strong rise in foreign visitors for Chinese new year and a major sporting event.
The figures strip out price movements during the quarter, essentially measuring sales volumes.
However, when compared with the previous month, retail sales increased by 0.6 per cent in June 2015.
New Zealand-based online-only stores recorded 7.9 per cent growth over the past quarter – well ahead of total sales growth at 0.1 per cent -which shows that New Zealanders are increasingly turning to the Internet and mobile devices to complete their shopping.
On the other hand, sales of petrol service stations declined by 16.7 percent, respectively, while sales of food and beverage services also saw a decrease of 5.1 percent. However, petrol prices have fallen about 7c a litre since the start of last month, taking some pressure off household budgets. The value of retail sales, which includes price fluctuations, rose 0.1% in the quarter, while core retail values shrank 0.2%.
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Retailers of motor vehicles recorded a sales increase of 85.2 per cent in June 2015 compared with the previous year.
