Food Stores Lead Rise In Sales

An increase of 1.3% by food stores were mainly responsible for the 1.5% growth in retail sales for March compared to March last year while overall retail sales performance seems to be mixed. Non-specialised stores fell slightly but total retail sales in March were up by 0.3% on last month and 2% higher in the quarter to March. Internet sales were 3.4% of total sales in March at a total of circa £172 million.