After the optimistic month of May for retailers, which saw a rise of 2.9% in sales, there was a widespread drop in sales in every sector.
Across the three months from April to June, sales volumes dipped by 0.1% when compared to the first three months of 2024.
There was also a drop of 0.2% when compared to the amount spent in shops during June 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Department stores and clothing retailers even returned to the levels of the notoriously quieter winter months of January to March.
As a whole, non-food store sales, which include department, clothing and household goods, dropped by 2.1% following the 3.3% boost in May.
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The Government statistics agency noted the reason for people not splashing their cash was due to uncertainty in the build-up to the general election, coupled with poor weather keeping shoppers away from the high street.
Continuing the theme were the sales in food stores, which dipped by 1.1% in June. This was attributed to low supermarket sales, as families applied caution to their spending.
However, sales of beer and snacks in supermarkets bought to watch the men’s UEFA European Football Championship helped grocery price inflation ease back to 1.6% for the four weeks up to July.
‘Department store heyday in dim and distant past’
Reflecting on the setback, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown – which won Best Lifetime Investment ISA at the YourMoney.com Awards 2024 – believes it was “a dismal snapshot of the UK retail sector… that has added a jolt of pessimism at the end of the week.”
Streeter said: “The department store heyday is in the dim and distant past. Sales at shops, which used to be the anchor of high streets up and down the country, slid again, falling 3.4%, and resulting in the worst performance in the sector.
“Demand for new clothing and shoes has taken a hit, with the wet weather hardly inspiring purchases of bikinis, shorts and sliders. It also continues to be a torrid time for sellers of household goods, with sales down 2.1%.”
While a decision on the Bank of England base rate isn’t due until August, Streeter believes households will continue to keep an eye on their coins by staying indoors.
She added: “With high interest rates looking set to stick around through the summer, shelling out on a new sofa or dining room table is hardly top of priority lists right now.
“Faced with incessant rain, many people have shunned the high street and instead have been settling down on old settees to find entertainment on the small screen.
“The lure of hit shows like Baby Reindeer and Bridgerton have helped boost Netflix subscribers in the UK and overseas. The streaming platform added eight million subscribers in the last quarter.”
