Retail sales shrink for fourth straight month in May

Sales fell 2.2% with motor vehicles leading the decline.

Retail sales continued on their downward trend after dropping 2.2% MoM in May and dropping 2.1% YoY , according to data from the Department of Statistics. The total retail sales value hit $3.7b of which online retail sales accounted for 5.3%.

Motor vehicles, and furniture and household equipment led the sales decline after declining 7.5% YoY. The motor vehicles industry netted the biggest loss monthly, dropping by 8.4% MoM.

If excluding motor vehicles’ sales data, retail sales fell 1% in MoM and YoY.

The sales of computer and telecommunications equipment, optical good and book industries, and department stores also registered declines, falling by 7.0%, 4.9% and 4.7% YoY respectively.

On the other hand, sales in the watches and jewellery industry grew 4.1% YoY, which the report attributed to the increase of demand due to the Akshaya Tritiya festival. Sales of petrol service stations also increased 1.4% YoY, but the sales volume recorded a 0.6% decline after exclusion of the price effect.

Food and Beverage Services rose 2% YoY although May sales declined by 1% compared to April sales. The total value of food and beverage services went up to $849m in May 2019 from $833m in May 2018.

Turnover of restaurants, other eating places, and fast food outlets increased by 2.7%, 2.2%, and 1.8% YoY respectively, while sales of food caterers decreased 1.2% during the same period.

In contrast, seasonally adjusted data showed that the sales of fast food outlets, other eating places and food caterers declined 2.3%, 2.5%, 2.1% over the past month, while restaurant turnover went up by 1%.

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.

The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.

So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia