High Street Sales Up On Last December

Sales volume increased by 5.3% in December 2012 compared with December 2013. Sales value increased by 6.1%. Prices in the retail sector increased by 0.5% according to the implied price deflator.

The various contributions of the four main sectors of the retail industry were, for every pound spent in retail, 42p was spent in food shops, 41p in non-food shops, 6p in non-store retailing and 11p in stores selling automotive fuel.

The amount spent in December 2013's five week shopping period was £44.1bn compared with £30.1bn in November's four weeks and £42.6bn in the five weeks of December 2012. The average weekly spend in December 2013 was £8.8bn, £7.5bn in November and £8.5bn in December 2012.

Average weekly online spend in December 2013 was £675.4m an increase of 11.8% on December 2012. It accounted for 11.8% of all retail spending (excl. automotive fuel). Department stores reported that investment in their websites had increased online sales but detracted from store-based sales.

Big Decrease In Food Sales

Sales volumes rose by 0.5% in April 2013 on the annual comparison while sales values increased by 1.3%. The main downward pressure came from a fall in the volume and value of food sales. The quantity of food bought decreased by 3.8% and the amount spent on that food decreased by 0.2%, the largest contraction on record. The level of food products bought is the lowest point it has reached since December 2003. Cold weather was to blame according to the supermarkets.

The monthly comparison shows that the volume of retail sales fell by 1.3% while the value of sales fell by the same percentage. Food sales again made the biggest difference. The volume of food sales fell by 4.1% while the amount of money spent on food fell by 3.5%.

Retailers See 2.5% Rise In Sales In September

The retail sector increased sales of goods by 2.5% in volume over the year from September 2011 to September 2012 according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. The amount spent in the retail sector increased by 3.2% in value over the same period. Over the month from August to September 2012 sales volumes increased by 0.6% and sales value increased by 1.1%. Predominantly food stores accounted for 41.3% of all retailing, predominantly non-food stores accounted for 41.6%. Non-store retailing accounted for 5.3% and automotive fuel accounted for 11.8%. Store price inflation increased by 0.7% over the year and by 1.3% over the month. The main upward pressure came from price rises in sales of textiles, clothing and footwear. The average weekly spend was estimated at £6.6bn compared with £6.5bn in August and £6.4bn in September 2011. Internet sales were estimated to have increased by 0.5% in the month to September. The average weekly online spend was £507.8m.

August Sales Up On The Year

The volume of retail sales over the year from August 2011 to August 2012 increased by 2.7%. At the same time the value of sales increased by 3%. Over the month from July 2012 to August 2012 sales volumes fell by 0.2% but sales values increased by 0.2%. The average amount spent weekly on all retailing in August was £6.5bn from £6.6bn in July and £6.3bn in August last year. Internet sales increased again over the year by 0.3% but fell by 0.9% over the month between July and August. The average s was

July Sees Increase In Retail Sales

Both sales volumes and sales values increased during July according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. Sales volumes increased by 2.8% compared with July 2011 while sales values increased by 3.1% compared with a year ago. There was also an increase in retail sales over the month between June and July. Over the month volumes increased by 0.3% and values by 0.8%. The average weekly spend was £6.7bn compared with £6.6bn in June 2012 and 6.5bn in July 2011. Internet spend was estimated to be £505.1m or 8.5% of all retail sales excluding automotive fuel.

Predominantly food stores increased their sales volumes by 0.9% over last year and their value by 2.9%. Prices are estimated to have increased by 1.9% over the year, the lowest increase since February 2010.

Trading Up On The High Street

Retail sales values increased by 3.3% in May 2012 compared with May 2011 and volumes increased by 2.4%. Store price inflation slowed down to 0.9%, the lowest it has been since October 2009.

Sales volumes in non-specialised stores increased by 11.3% and values by 9.3%. Household goods stores contributed 0.5% of volume with an increase of 5.1%.

The total amount spent in the retail sector between April and May 2012 was an estimated £26.4bn or an average weekly spend of £6.6bn. Total non-store retailing which contributes 14.9% points grew by 0.7%. Internet sales had an estimated value of £501.9m, an increrase of 21.6% compared with May 2011 and 8.8% of all retail sales values (excl. auto fuel).