SHOPPERS TURN OFF THE SPENDING TAPS

ONLINE SALES HIT AS HOUSEHOLDS CUT BACK AMID WARNING OF WORSE TO COME

- Rachael Burford and Jonathan Prynn

MILLIONS of families have cut back on spending in the first signs the cost of living crisis is beginning to bite, official figures revealed today.

Online sales took a particularly heavy hit last month as shoppers limited unnecessary and luxury purchases. They dropped 7.9 per cent following a 6.9 per cent fall in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

Sales volumes as a whole fell 1.4 per cent in the month — faster than the 0.5 per cent drop in February, although they do remain 2.2 per cent above the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020.

Economists today warned the slump was likely to get worse as struggling households feel the impact of the National Insurance hike as well as the rising costs of petrol, council tax and broadband and an almost £700 increase in energy bills from this month.

Thomas Pugh, economist at consulting services firm RSM UK, said: “The 1.4 per cent drop in retail sales volumes is the first sign in the official data of the toll that the cost of living crisis is having on consumer spending and the economy.