Almost 120,000 jobs were lost in the retail sector in 2023, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research.
More than 10,000 shops closed last year, including high street names such as Wilko as businesses battled inflation and consumers reduced their spending due to rising living costs.
CRR said most of the year’s job losses were down to company restructures and cost-cutting exercises rather than business failures, however. Just over 82,000 of the 119,405 jobs were lost due to rationalisation rather than administration, it said.
Its Crisis in Retailing report said that growth in online retail has been faster in the UK than in any other country. In 2006, the share of retail that was online was just 6.6%.
By the first quarter of 2021, this percentage had reached more than 36% every month, influenced in some part by the pandemic. In early 2023 the figure was 25%.
Retail job losses
Retail job losses last year were lower than in 2022, when they totalled 151,474 and almost 120,000 of those were down to restructures post-pandemic. 2022 was the worst year for store closures since the financial crisis and collapse of Woolworths in 2008.
From April, retailers will face a £309 million increase in annual business rates, according to estimates from real estate analysts at Altus Group, which could have an impact on their ability to remain open and cover costs.
Furthermore, businesses face an almost 10% increase in the national living wage which takes effect in April. A number of retailers have already called the rise, to £11.44 an hour, unsustainable.
In the war for talent, however, some have announced substantial pay rises for their lowest paid workers, including Sainsbury’s and Aldi.
CRR said that retailers were losing their share of consumer spending in favour of meals out, gym memberships and other leisure activities. Consumers are also more likely to shop around for the best price, it said.
Data from business recovery firm has predicted that thousands of firms are now at risk of insolvency, with the retail sector likely to be one of the worst hit.
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