The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor (RSM) reports clothing and footwear saw weaker sales growth despite consumer confidence increasing as inflation remains dominant with families holding back on spending.
A jump in consumer confidence resulted in a 4.1 per cent increase in total retail sales for the month of August, according to the most recent retail sales data from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor (RSM), a reliable monthly gauge of UK-wide retail sales performance.
However, throughout the three months leading up to August, sales at non-food businesses, which includes clothes stores, decreased overall by 0.2 per cent. This is less than the 0.9 per cent annual growth rate.
Non-food sales climbed year over year in August and by 1.3 per cent in the three months leading up to August in in-store non-food sales. However, this is less than the 3.6 per cent annual growth rate.
Retailers, according to Helen Dickinson, CEO of the BRC, are hopeful that the increasing trend in consumer confidence will continue, particularly in the clothes and footwear industry where families put off purchasing children’s uniforms and other back-to-school items until the very last minute.
Covering the four weeks from 30th July to 26th August 2023 the overall data marks a significant improvement from the 1 per cent growth recorded in the same period last year.
