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Retail sales in the UK were flat on a like-for-like basis in May compared with the same time last year, when they increased by 0.5%.
This is according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor which found on a total basis sales were up 1.1%, against a 2% rise in May 2014, and behind the three-month and 12-month averages of 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively.
Total non-food sales grew 2.8% over the three months to May, in line with its 12-month average, which is the first time since December it has fallen below the 3% mark.
Helen Dickinson, director general at the BRC, said: “May witnessed a slowdown in sales growth, below the three-month and twelve-month average. This was mainly due to fashion sales, which experienced a decline compared with the same month last year, where we saw record demand.”
Meanwhile, online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 9.9% in May versus a year earlier, when they had grown 17%. The non-food online penetration rate was 17.4%, up from 16.2% in May last year.
In May 2015, online sales represented 17.4% of total non-food sales, compared with 16.2% in May 2015.
