Retail had a disappointing January, as the elevated cost of living and unfavourable weather discouraged shopping from spending.
Total retail sales across the UK edged up by just 1.2% year-on-year in January, a drop from the 4.2% rise the same time last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG.
While the BRC claimed January sales discounts helped increase spend during the first two weeks of the month, this was “not sustain[ed] throughout the month”.
The trade association’s CEO Helen Dickinson said: “Larger purchases, such as furniture, household appliances, and electricals, remained weak as the higher cost of living continued into its third year.”
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
The BRC boss also pointed out that clothes and footwear sales performed badly, while there was an uptick in health and beauty product sales.
KPMG UK head of consumer markets, leisure and retail, Linda Ellett, said the high street’s performance was “lacklustre” and that the “feel-good factor” from mortgage rates and inflation dropping had yet to materialise.
The news comes after the BRC found shop price inflation fell to its lowest level in two years last month, as food inflation dropped for the ninth consecutive month.
Shop prices eased to 2.9% in January, down from 4.3% the previous month and below the three-month average of 3.9%, the latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index revealed.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
