Czech retail sales fell 10.9 percent during April as a result of governmental restrictive measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic. The biggest hit was suffered by specialized shops such as shoe stores, whose sales were down 80 percent for the month, while sporting goods outlets suffered a 55 percent decline. Specialized food shops suffered a 41 percent drop for the month, unlike general grocery whose 0.4 percent reduction in sales was barely noticeable. Not surprisingly, online sales saw their greatest increase ever, rising 47.5 percent, according to the Czech Statistics Office. It admitted that some of the data, usually taken from VAT filings, had to be estimated for April and that some revisions were possible. In general, economists had expected worse results (which don’t include car dealerships) for the month.
