UK retail sales recover with the lure of summer promotion deals despite inflation
Retail sales have recovered since June, as penny pinching Brits seek to navigate worsening inflation, according to official figures today.
Around three quarters of adults have said they are very or somewhat worried about the rising costs of living in the past two weeks, according to a separate poll by the ONS.
Sales, carried by food and online summer promotion deals, rose 0.3 per cent in July, following a drop of 0.2 per cent in June.
The figures were down over the past year, but remain 2.3 per cent above pre-pandemic levels, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.
While sales are up, the UK’s energy crisis and scaling fuel prices have seen fuel sales plunge by nearly 10 per cent. However, the ONS noted that the recent heatwaves may have reduced travel.
Online sales have continued to boom, even after lockdown measures eased.
The proportion of retail sales happening online rose to 26.3 per cent in July, up from 25.3 per cent in June.