March saw 10.1% plunge in sales, dropping to the lowest point since 2008 in the height of the financial crisis according to a new data from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.

The hardest hit sectors from the drop in footfall were Fashion and homeware seeing a 12.7% and 13.2% dive in sales respectively, marking the worst month on record for fashion.

Mother’s Day provided some respite for the lifestyle sector but ultimately failed to make a dent in the 4.5 per cent drop in sales. This was the second worst month on record.

Online sales suffered showing the slowest level of growth since 2015. Some recovery predicted by BDO in April with flat growth reported in the lead to Easter Sunday.

“However you look at it, March was a brutal month for stores,” BDO’s head of retail and wholesale Sophie Michael said.

The weather was severe and current shoppers’ reaction showed how paper-thin consumer confidence is. People weren’t spending online as they couldn’t get to the shops to make up the shortfall either.

“Whilst many consumers not trusting deliveries to get through which is also a clear indicator of the wavering underlying spending power”.

“Disappointing start to April, retailers will continue to face significant pressures in their attempts to making up the shortfall that has been experienced so far this year.”