Deloitte comments on ONS retail sales figures

Commenting on today’s ONS retail sales figures, Ian Geddes, UK head of retail at Deloitte, said:

“The UK retail market’s record run continued in May with the 26th consecutive month of year-on-year growth. In recent months growth has been driven by non-food retailers, but in May we saw a strong performance from all areas of the market except for petrol stations, which remain affected by oil prices. A stronger performance from food retailers, which saw value and volume growth, was driven in part by supermarket promotions on alcohol.”

“Internet sales growth slowed in May as the sector continues to mature, although growth remains ahead of the market and market share is steady at 12% of all retail sales. Online sales of clothing grew at their slowest rate since records began in what proved to be a difficult month for clothing retailers due to the cool weather. A strong property market continues to support the household goods sector with strong growth in-store and online.”

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Notes to editors

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