The Christmas season is pivotal to the two sectors, with one-third of all restaurant income coming from the six-week run-in to Christmas alone.

Retail Excellence Ireland CEO Jean McCabe told The Anton Savage Show that while it has been a ‘difficult year’ for the industry, the general verdict from retailers after Christmas has been ‘relatively positive’.

“It’s certainly welcome to see a good December trading,” she said.

“I guess the budget, while it might have failed to deliver for retail, it did put two billion into consumer’s pockets in November and December, so I think retailers got to see the fruits of that.”

Shoppers on Henry Street in Dublin city centre on St Stephen's Day in 2020. Image: NurPhoto SRL / Alamy

However, Ms McCabe said that most of this positivity came from larger shops, while small and medium businesses (SMEs) found it difficult to keep up.

“If we look at, let’s say Black Friday for example, we did a survey with our members to see how they fared,” she said.

“What was very evident from the data was that the large multiples did really well over Black Friday week - or kind of month - and nearly double-digit growth, while the SMEs saw nearly double-digit declines.

“So, there’s a kind of a split happening within the industry of who’s getting to trade well and who’s not.”

'Decent' footfall

According to Ms McCabe, footfall within shops was ‘decent’, but those who did shop in person tended to make larger purchases.

“The reports from members are that they traded exceptionally well online over the Christmas period, but equally had seen decent footfall in stores,” she said.

“Maybe slight declines in some areas in footfall, but the average transaction value of that customer made up for it.

“I think the story of Holyhead and the impact of that made people actually walk in the doors of stores also, in fear that they might not get their deliveries on time.

“So, that certainly helps drive more people in stores.”

Restaurant sector

It was also a good Christmas for the restaurant sector, but Chief Executive Officer of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said these profits may not be enough to keep businesses going through the next few months.

“We’re quite positive at the moment, but, you know, next year is going to bring a lot of challenges for our industry,” he said.

“That’s where these businesses now are facing into January, February – they've a tough few months ahead."

Challenging time

Mr Cummins said it is a challenging time for the industry at the moment.

“Last January, we had about 110 closures in our industry,” he said.

“So, this January now we’re waiting to see and we’re hoping that figure won’t materialise because we want to make sure that every business survives.

“But the feedback I’m getting from operators is it’s very, very challenging at the moment in terms of cost of business.”

According to Mr Cummins, the industry will be heavily lobbying the new government to reduce the VAT rate down to 9%.

Listen back here:

Featured image: Photo shows people eating and drinking, in the south city centre of Dublin. Photo: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie