Non-essential shops, restaurants and bars were shut for the whole of November. They reopened last month in what proved to be a brief respite as a huge surge in infections led to the imposition of an even stricter lockdown at the end of December that ministers say could keep shops closed for three months.
Bar sales fell 91% compared to November 2019, with clothing, footwear and textiles down 58% and department store sales 33% lower. That was partly offset by a 33% jump in electrical goods sales, and rises of more than 23% in hardware and food. Total volumes plummeted a record 44% year-on-year during April's initial lockdown.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin. Editing by Jane Merriman)
