UK retail sales declined 1% on total basis in June: BRC-KPMG

UK retail sales decreased 1.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis from June 2021, when they had increased 6.7 per cent. This was above the 3-month average decline of 1.5 per cent and below the 12-month average growth of 1 per cent.

Over the three-months to June, non-food retail sales decreased by 3.3 per cent on a total basis and 4.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis. This is below the 12-month total average growth of 5 per cent. For the month of June, non-food was in decline year-on-year, the report said.

Over the three months to June, in-store sales of non-food items increased 2.2 per cent on a total basis and 0.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis since June 2021. This is below the 12-month growth of 35.5 per cent.

Online non-food sales decreased by 9.1 per cent in June, against a decline of 5.9 per cent in June 2021. This is above the 3-month average decline of 10.3 per cent. The non-food online penetration rate decreased from 43.3 per cent in June 2021 to 39.4 per cent this June.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, British Retail Consortium, said: “Sales volumes are falling to a rate not seen since the depths of the pandemic, as inflation continues to bite, and households cut back spending. While the Jubilee weekend gave food sales a temporary boost, and fashion sales benefited from the summer holiday and wedding season, this was not enough to counter the substantial slowdown in consumer spending.

“Retailers are caught between significant rising costs in their supply chains and protecting their customers from price rises. The government needs to get creative and find ways to help relieve some of this cost pressure – the upcoming consultation on transitional relief is a golden opportunity to ensure that retailers aren't overpaying on their business rates bills. Government action on transitional relief would make a meaningful difference to retailers’ costs and ease pressure on prices for customers.”

Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG, added: “Retail sales continued to slide for the third month in a row, albeit down just 1 per cent on what was a strong June 2021 and against a backdrop of unprecedented price rises on the high street. Online shopping continued to move in reverse with total sales down 9 per cent as non-food purchases related to the home, such as furniture, home appliances and computing, suffered the biggest falls in online spending.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)