Retail sales rose by 0.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis from August 2021, when they had increased by 1.5 per cent. This was above the 3-month average growth of 0.1 per cent and below the 12-month average growth of 0.7 per cent.

Over the three-months to August, non-food retail sales decreased by 2 per cent on an overall basis and 2.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis. This is below the 12-month total average growth of 4 per cent. For August, non-food was in decline year-on-year.

Over the three months to August, in-store sales of non-food items increased by 1.4 per cent on an overall basis and 0.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis since August 2021. This is below the 12-month growth of 33.7 per cent.

The non-food online penetration rate decreased to 38.5 per cent in August from 40.2 per cent at the same point last year, BRC said in a release.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)