UK retail sales growth eases in July as wet weather damps mood

The UK retail sector had a tricker month in July, with wet weather doing ‘no favours’ for clothing sales, numbers on Tuesday showed.

According to the latest British Retail Consortium and KPMG sales monitor, sales rose 1.5% on-year last month, below the three-month average growth of 3.5%. Sales growth eased from 2.3% a year earlier.

July’s rise was the weakest year-on-year growth in retail sales since August 2022, according to the BRC. Retail sales had risen 4.9% on-year in June.

On a like-for-like basis, retail sales rose 1.8% in July, trailing the three-month average growth rate of 3.3%. Like-for-like growth picked up from the 1.6% seen a year prior, however.

The BRC added: ‘Food sales increased 8.4% on a total basis and 8.7% on a like-for-like basis over the three months to July. This is above the 12-month total average growth of 7.8%. For the month of July, food was in growth year-on-year. Non-food sales decreased 0.5% on a total basis and 0.8% on a like-for-like basis over the three-months to July. This is below the 12-month total average growth of 0.6%. For the month of July, non-food was in decline year-on-year.’

Over the three months to the end of July, non-food sales fell 0.5%, a 0.8% decrease like-for-like.

Online non-food sales were 6.9% lower last month, steeper than the three-month average fall of 3.4%, as the pandemic era e-commerce boom continues to dwindle.

BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘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. 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.

‘While consumer confidence is generally improving, it remains below longer term levels.’

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