Supermarket spending has seen the biggest increase for 18 months, despite inflation hitting a new 14-year-high, new data has revealed.
According to the BRC-KPMG retail sales data, food and drink sales have seen a 3.8% increase in the three months to August 2022.
Food and drink sales for summer barbeques also increased by 5%, it revealed.
This boost in sales comes despite of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and looming spike in household energy bills.
For the latest grocery news , sign up to Grocery Gazette’s FREE daily newsletter
The figures come at the same time as separate research from Barclaycard which showed that card spending slowed to its lowest levels for more than a year.
“The cost-of-living is clearly leading Brits to cut-back on some non-essential purchases to ensure they can afford the increasing costs of their weekly grocery shop and household utility bills,” Barclaycard head of consumer products Jose Carvalho said.
Non-food sales, including clothing and homeware fell by 2% over the last quarter as the industry saw a 2.3% increase in retail sales in July.
“Retail sales growth slowed in August compared to the previous month as consumers reined in spending amidst the spiralling cost of living,” BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said.
“While inflation in retail prices is lower than general inflation at over 10%, this still represents a significant drop in sales volumes.
“For the first time in recent months, clothing sales were sluggish as summer events ended, and parents held back on back-to-school spending.
