The British Retail Consortium and KPMG have released figures from their monthly sales monitor which have revealed that food sales climbed by 2.5% on a like for like basis and by 3.5% on a total basis in the three months to September.
Sales of non-food retail sales increased by 0.9% on a total basis and by 0.5% on a like for like basis in the three-month period.
The BRC said most of September’s growth was due to price increases filtering through, particularly in food and clothing. While the clothing category performed well, customers held back from buying big ticket items such as furniture and electricals.
BRC chief executive, Helen Dickinson said: “September saw a second consecutive month of relatively good sales growth which should indicate welcome news for retailers and the economy alike.
“Retailers have worked hard to keep a lid on price rises following the depreciation of the pound, but with a potent mix of more expensive imports and increasing business costs from various government policies, something had to give at some point.”
Ms Dickinson added: “Online has been the biggest beneficiary of the resilience in consumer spending capacity in the last two months, sustaining a return to double digit year on year growth figures as shoppers responded well to discounts and the ongoing investment by retailers in improving the mobile shopping experience.”
