Thank you kindly for your participation in the economy. You contributed a small portion to the R1 trillion in sales (current prices) generated by the retail trade industry in 2017, every time you stepped into a store to buy groceries, clothes or electronic equipment. This translates to about R31\u00a0900 spent per second<\/em> across the industry during the course of that year.<\/p>\n And consumers weren\u2019t shy to spend a little more in 2017 than they did in 2016. Spending on retail was up by 2,9% in 2017 compared with 2016 in volume terms (constant prices), higher than the 1,7% annual growth recorded in 2016, but lower than the 3,3% in 20151<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Stores specialising in food and beverages had particular reason to smile. They saw their sales rise by 5,0% in 2017, the second largest annual growth rate recorded across various store types, after the miscellaneous \u2018all other retailers\u2019 category. Hardware stores, however, saw a decline in sales (click on the chart to enlarge).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fact 2: General dealers are responsible for 44% of sales <\/strong><\/p>\n Despite general dealers experiencing lacklustre growth of only 1,1% in 2017, they dominated the industry in terms of sales value. For every R100 that consumers spent at retail stores in 2017, R44 was spent at general dealers, which includes supermarkets.<\/p>\n The second largest contributor was stores specialising in clothing and textiles, contributing R18 for every R100 of total sales.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fact 3: Meat accounts for 8,1% of total sales income <\/strong><\/p>\n South Africans love their meat. A detailed list of products shows meat as the most popular commodity in the retail trade industry, contributing 8,1% to total sales income in 2014\/15. Pharmaceutical goods and female clothing were the second and third most popular products, according to Stats SA\u2019s Retail trade industry, 2015<\/em> report.2<\/sup> The top eleven products that contributed half of total sales income are shown below.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fact 4: Non-specialised stores are the largest employer<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2014\/15, over one-third of the 812\u00a0104 individuals working in retail were employed in non-specialised stores. Clothing stores were second, employing 23% of the retail workforce<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fact 5: Non-specialised stores pay the lowest salaries<\/strong><\/p>\n Non-specialised stores have the highest number of employees but the lowest salaries. The average annual salary for a person working in a non-specialised store was R66\u00a0044 in 2014\/15, lower than the average of R93\u00a0632 for the entire retail trade industry. Compare this with the average salary for employers in retail outlets specialising in pharmaceutical goods.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1<\/sup> The most recent monthly Retail trade sales<\/em> publication can be accessed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2 <\/sup>Download the Retail trade industry, 2015<\/em> report here<\/a>. The media presentation for the report \u2013 containing employment, financial and salary information \u2013 is available here<\/a>. The reporting period was the financial year ended on any date between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015.<\/p>\n Similar articles are available on the Stats SA website and can be accessed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n For a monthly overview of economic indicators and infographics, catch the latest edition of the Stats Biz<\/em> newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The South African trade industry is made up of five divisions: wholesale, motor, accommodation, food and beverages (i.e. restaurants and catering), and retail. Stats SA takes a look at five facts that you might not have known about the retail trade industry. Fact 1: South Africans spent R31\u00a0900 per second in retail stores in read more »<\/a><\/p>\n![\"pic1\"](\"https:\/\/www.statssa.gov.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/pic1.png\")
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