Sales tumbled for food, beverages & tobacco (-1.5% vs 8.1% in March).

Additionally, sales slowed for other retail sale in non-specialized stores (17.6% vs 19.3%), and fell further for textiles, clothes & footwears in specialized stores (-3.6% vs -1.5%).

Meanwhile, sales accelerated for non-food products (6.4% vs 1.7%) and via mail order houses or via internet (14.4% vs 3.8%).

On a monthly comparison basis, retail sales fell 1.5% in April, reversing a 1.6% rise in the prior month.