Retail sales in Great Britain fall despite heatwave increasing food and drink demand

Volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.5% in July, ONS says Retail sales across Great Britain weakened last month despite the men’s football World Cup and record temperatures boosting the demand for food and drink. The Office for National Statistics said the volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 0.5% in July. That is down from 0.7% rise in June – revised down from initial estimates of 1% – and a 1.3% rise in May. Non-food stores took the biggest tumble, falling 1.3%, on the back of a drop in clothes shopping, after retailers brought forward cut-price sales into June while heatwaves in July resulted in more people staying home than hitting the high street. Sandra Prince, the head of consumer at Lloyds, said: “Hotter days could have shifted footfall and spending online or towards retail parks.

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