Sales volumes in the UK were down by 1.5% when compared with February 2020’s pre-pandemic level. Credit: William Barton/Shutterstock.

Retail sales volumes in the UK decreased 0.7% in October 2024, after an updated marginal increase of 0.1% in September.  

Despite the monthly dip, there was a year-on-year increase of 2.4%. Compared to pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, volumes were 1.5% lower. 

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Over the three months to October 2024, there was an overall rise of 0.8% compared to the preceding three months. When measured against the same period of 2023, the increase was a notable 2.5% – the most significant since March 2022, despite a downward revision from the high of 2.6% in September to 2.1%. 

During the month, non-food stores – department stores, clothing, household and others – experienced a decline of 1.4% after a rise of 2.3% in September.  

Retailers have attributed this to low consumer confidence and uncertainty surrounding the Budget announcement on 30 October 2024. 

Clothing stores saw the most substantial drop within non-food sectors, with sales falling by 3.1% over the month. This decline came after growth in previous months due to end-of-season sales and favourable weather conditions. 

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Other non-food stores also reported a decrease of 1.4% after a strong performance in September.  

The most significant negative impact within this subsector came from miscellaneous retail sales, including commercial art galleries. 

Online spending values decreased by 1.2% during October but were up by 5% compared with October 2023.  

Total spend, which combines in-store and online sales, fell by 0.6% over the month and saw a slight reduction in online sales as a percentage of total sales from 27.8% in September to 27.7% in October. 

In response to the update, British Retail Consortium insight director Kris Hamer said: “While October produced a positive start to the ‘golden quarter’, with year-on-year growth for the fourth month in a row, there was a monthly decline due to pre-Budget jitters from households.  

“Fashion took the brunt of this hit, especially as the milder weather put off winter purchases. Electricals performed well as people continued to upgrade their tech with the latest models. Health and beauty had yet another strong month of sales growth, especially with the popularity of beauty advent calendars which went on sale.”