Food and drink, as well as items for the home, were the best sellers on the high street in July, while general retail sales slowed amid the damp weather.
According to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) KPMG retail sales monitor, total UK retail sales increased by 1.5% over the four weeks to July 29, a downturn from the previous July’s 2.3% growth and below the three-month average of 3.5%
Total food sales jumped 8.4% – above the 12-month average growth of 7.8% – as inflation eased slightly from its high of 19.2% in March.
Meanwhile, total non-food sales fell by 0.5% over the three months to July, below the 12-month total average growth of 0.6%.
Online sales continued to fall, decreasing nearly 7% year-on year, with just a handful of categories such as furniture, health and beauty performing well.
BRC chief executive, Helen Dickinson, told The Independent: “The slowing pace of retail price inflation fed through into slower sales this July.
“Spend was further depressed by the damp weather, which did no favours to sales of clothing, and other seasonal goods.”
She added: “Online spending was down again year on year as the post-Covid trend back to stores continued, leading to the lowest proportion of non-food sales online since the pandemic began.”
It comes as shoppers are being hit with “super-shrinkflation” as prices have risen at the same time that portion sizes have been cut, a new investigation has revealed.
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UK head of retail at KPMG, Paul Martin, also commented: “As the storm clouds came out, shoppers retreated, with like-for-like sales growth a dismal 1.5% up in July.
“We are starting to see a big rise in the number of promotions that retailers are putting in place in order to get shoppers through the door, as they battle to keep market share.
“Price-conscious consumers are shopping more carefully, more aware of where bargains can be found and what they are getting for their money – which is biting hard into retail margins and profitability.
“UK consumers have been hugely resilient throughout the cost-of-living crisis, but stubbornly high inflation coupled with rapidly rising interest rates will test their ability and willingness to keep on spending for the rest of this year.
“Both consumers and retailers are finding that they are having to get used to doing more with less as conditions remain incredibly challenging.”
A recent report found that the UK has lost approximately 6,000 retail outlets in the past five years, as the industry feels the impact of Covid lockdowns and high business costs due to soaring inflation and interest rates.
