Retail sales, excluding car sales, rose by 1.5% in September from August driven by a rise in sales of electrical goods, fuel, food and items such as mobile phones and toys.
For the year, retail sales by volume were down 10% in September from a year earlier, after an 8.9% drop in August. Car sales fell 29% in the year, while furniture sales dropped 12.7%. Clothes sales fell 5.9% and sales at bars declined 10%.
Bloxham Stockbrokers’ Alan McQuaid said things haven’t been helped by the depreciation of sterling versus the euro, which has seen many consumers shopping in the North.
"With sterling set to remain very weak, Irish retailers will be under significant pressure to offer sizeable discounts to lure consumers back into the shops in the run-up to the Christmas season," he said.
Goodbody Stockbrokers economist, Deirdre Ryan said however that consumer spending is stabilising. In the three months through September, sales increased 0.4%, the first quarterly gain in almost two years.
Ulster Bank economist, Lynsey Clemenger said: "After a year and a half of shocking weakness, signs of stabilisation in consumer spending are becoming increasingly evident."
Retailers have appealed for help to cut the costs of running their businesses.
Retail Ireland director Torlach Denihan said: "With retailers taking in less money at the tills the employment prospects for the sector are a source of very serious concern.
"Landlords are not doing enough to cut rents and Government has done nothing to reduce the cost burden it imposes on the sector through commercial rates, waste management charges, Joint Labour Committees and the high minimum wage."
