According to the report from Office for National Statistics, in the three months to November 2019, the quantity bought in retail sales decreased by 0.4% when compared with the previous three months; this is the first decline since April 2018.

The quantity bought in November 2019 fell by 0.6% when compared with the previous month, with only household goods stores reporting growth. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase.

Year-on-year growth in the quantity bought increased by 1.0% in November 2019; this is the lowest growth since April 2018, owing to a decline of 1.1% in non-food stores. Economists had expected a 2.1% increase.

In 2019, the official Black Friday was on 29 November and outside our November reporting period, which covers four weeks from 27 October to 23 November; our seasonally adjusted estimates account for this shift in timing. Online sales as a proportion of all retailing was 18.7% in November 2019, compared with the 19.1% reported in October 2019.