Warmer weather boosts July retail sales
Warmer weather last month gave retail sales a 2.2% boost by value and 1.4% by volume over the year to July 2024.
According to the latest Retail Sales Index from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), retail sales volumes rose by 0.5% in July, following a 0.9% fall in June, while food store sales volumes remained flat.
The amount spent online rose by 2.5% during the month and by 3.6% compared with July 2023, while online value sales were up 1% in food stores.
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Total spend, the sum of in-store and online sales, rose by 0.7% in July, while the proportion of retail sales made online increased from 27.4% in June to 27.8% the following month.
British Retail Consortium director of insight Kris Hamer said: “Following the gloomy start to summer spending, retailers welcomed the warmer July weather which gave sales growth a boost, particularly in areas such as cosmetics, clothing, footwear, and books as consumers prepared for their summer holidays.
“The high cost of living is still bearing down on consumers, but with interest rates finally easing, retailers are hopeful that this will buoy consumers confidence, and with it greater spending, particularly as we head into August.”
He explained that retailers are “working closely” with government to “maximise the industry’s contribution to economic growth,” however added that with headline inflation showing signs of rising further, “retailers face the prospect of another large rise in business rates next year”.
Earlier this month, Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts and Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis warned that more than 17,000 shops across the UK could be at risk of closure in the next ten years without government reform of the business rates levy.
Harmer added: “As retail businesses plan their investment strategies, many will be looking ahead to the Autumn Budget, keen to end 14 years of Conservative business rates rises which has seen the tax rate rise 30%, harming the viability of many retail stores across the country.”
In the run up to the general election last month, the Labour government said it would replace the UK business rates system with a new fairer system to “level the playing field between online and high streets”.
