Discretionary spend continues to move away from clothing and footwear to essentials
Due to the non-discretionary nature of spend on food and drugs compared with clothing and accessories, the JSE food and drug index has proven a lot more resilient than general retailers over the past five years.
From its latest peak in April 2018, it has fallen by 20%, compared with a 59% drop in general retailers since March 2018, and a fall of 22% in the all share index since its peak of January 2018.
