Retailers will be pleased to hear that sales increased by 1% in January, buoyed by discounts in clothing. This compares to a 0.7% fall in December.

Meanwhile, the quantity bought in January 2019 was 4.2% in comparison to last year, which represents the highest level recorded since December 2016.

Year-on-year average store prices slowed to 0.4%, which is the lowest price increase recorded since November 2016.

Online sales as a total of all retailing decreased to 18.8% in January, from the 19.8% in December.