Retail sales dip in August following late Bank Holiday
UK retail sales edged down 1% on a like-for-like basis in August compared to the same month last year. On a total basis, sales were up 0.1%.
The figures published by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG in their monthly shop price index show that total non-food sales climbed by 3% in the three month period but were down in August which was the first decline since August 2014.
The BRC said the figures for back-to-school sensitive categories had been distorted by the fact that they do not include the Bank Holiday which will be accounted for in the September period this year.
Meanwhile, the clothing, footwear, stationery, furniture and household appliance categories all experienced declines in August.
Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said: “At this time of the year parents are busily shopping for back-to-school essentials like clothes, footwear and stationery and those sales will peak later this year. Large ticket item categories like furniture and household appliances also experienced a decline in sales, again likely affected by the Bank Holiday distortion.
“Retailers will hope to recoup that sales deficit in September and to start feeling the effect of higher real wages.”
Total food sales were up 0.3% in the three months to August with the twelve-month average total growth turning positive for the first time since August 2014.
Dickinson added: “There was better news for food sales this August with a clear improvement compared with July. This, coupled with a positive twelve month average for the first time since August of last year, suggests there may be cause for optimism for food sales following a prolonged period of stagnation.”
Online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 6.5% in August versus a year earlier, when they had grown 19.8% and established the 2014 best performance. This was the slowest growth registered since April 2013. The non-food online penetration rate was 17.2%, up from 16.3% in August 2014.
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: “With the summer bank holiday delaying purchases and many consumers jetting off out of the UK in search of warmer climates, August saw a slowdown in e-commerce growth across almost all categories with non-food online sales up just 6.5% versus 2014.
“Despite this, online penetration rates remain stable at 17.2% and retailers will be hoping for cooler autumn weather to entice consumers back to the virtual aisles ahead of the Christmas rush.”
