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UK Retail Sales Report summary

September 2021

Period covered: Period covered: 1 – 28 August 2021

Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Become a member to access this data or take out a free 30 day membership trial now.

Retail sales softened to a 00% rise in August YoY according to the Retail Economics Retail Sales Index (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. Fuel); and rose by 00% against 2019 levels.

August marked the first full month that Covid restrictions were lifted this year. Rather than celebrating with retail therapy, restriction easing has dampened retail sales as many consumers spent elsewhere in areas that previously faced restrictions.

The softening of retail sales from July to August over the peak holiday period is a seasonal norm, but the circumstances surrounding August this year are anything but normal.

CPI inflation spiked by 1.2 percentage points on the previous month to 3.2% in August, marking the largest ever monthly jump recorded since records began in 1997.

In contrast to previous economic shocks, incomes have been supported by policy measures throughout the pandemic, including the availability of credit. This helped ease usual pressures to cut spending associated with downturns.

But the impact of Covid restrictions has been uneven across industries. Declines in consumer spending have been concentrated in services, as consumers substituted spending on unavailable activities for goods, and accumulated additional savings from fewer expenses.

As economies open up, demand has been broadly recovering faster than officials previously forecast. This has put pressure on the availability of labourers and key global commodities, ranging from microchips to gas.

Consumers are feeling the impact. One in three consumers are facing difficulties in getting the goods they need according to the latest Retail Economics survey. Among those experiencing difficulty, 00% have had acute problems obtaining goods they need (representing 00% of consumers), while 00% have typically managed to resolve sourcing challenges.

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Total Retail Sales (exc. fuel)

Source: ONS

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  • Overview of UK retail sales
  • Retail sales growth by category Y-o-Y
  • Online sales growth (Y-o-Y)
  • Retail sales by region (£m)
  • Total spend by sector
  • Weekly spend (£m)
  • Footfall stats by channel
  • External data source summaries
  • Regional weather data