November retail sales see modest increase

Retail sales in the UK saw an increase of 1.3 percent in November, a marginal uptick from the no growth period in the month prior.

This is according to new figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which noted that while this increase in sales may appear positive, on a broader scale sales volumes actually fell by 0.8 percent in the three months to November when compared with the previous three months.

This decline was not seen among non-food stores, however, where volumes rose 2.3 percent, following just a 0.2 percent increase in October.

ONS said that retailers reported earlier Black Friday sales and wider discounting had aided in the increase.

Despite this, sales volumes for this category were 2.7 percent under pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.

For department stores, sales rose by 2.3 percent, while clothing stores welcomed a 1.3 percent increase, for which retailers attributed earlier and increased Christmas spending in contrast to the typical November period.

Online spending rose by 1.5 percent for the month, driven by non-food stores, with the proportion of such sales also rising to 26.6 percent.