The 20th Progressive Housewares Retail Barometer has shown that 54% of indie cookshops and housewares retailers reported better trade in 2024 compared to 2023.
Unsurprisingly, the year that we emerged from Covid (2022) still reigns as the year reported as the best in the history of Progressive Housewares Retail Barometer and 2023, when 55% reported a better year, just narrowly beats 2024, when a whopping 54% have reported that their business fared better in 2024 than in 2023.
In a reversal of fortune, however, 38% said that 2024 was about the same in terms of trading as 2023, while only 8% said their business had fared worse than the previous year. So the overall picture is brighter this year than last year’s survey.
Of those who saw an improved year, the average increase in sales was 9% over the year. Meanwhile, those who reported a decline in trade, saw an average decrease of just 2%.
With the continued economic pressures, it’s perhaps no surprise that the majority of retailers – 46% – saw a decrease in average spend per customer. 39% saw a steady spend per consumer, while 15% did see an increase in the average spend. For 2024, none of the respondents reported a significant increase or significant decline.
The continued economic pressures facing Brits are likely to continue impacting sales in 2025, as 43% said they expected them to cause a slight decline in the coming year, while 14% see the situation as more of a threat, expecting the situation to cause a significant decline. 7% were unsure how the pressures would play out over the next year in business, while 36% think the situation is likely to remain the same in 2025.
