According to the report from Office for National Statistics, the quantity bought in retail sales in July 2019 increased by 0.2% when compared with the previous month, with strong growth of 6.9% in non-store retailing. Economists had expected a 0.2% decrease.

Department stores’ growth increased for the first time this year with a month-on-month growth of 1.6%; this was following six consecutive months of decline.

In July 2019, online retailing accounted for 19.9% of total retailing compared with 18.9% in June 2019, with an overall growth of 12.7% when compared with the same month a year earlier. 

In the three months to July 2019, the quantity bought in retail sales increased by 0.5% when compared with the previous three months, with food stores and fuel stores seeing a decline.

Year-on-year growth in the quantity bought increased by 3.3% in July 2019, with food stores being the only main sector reporting a fall at negative 0.5%. Economists had expected a 2.6% increase.