Retail sales increased last month, driven by online shoppers and Black Friday as electricals and home categories performed well.
November’s retail sales increased 5.9% year-on-year both in terms of amount spent and quantity bought, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Non-food retailers benefited from Black Friday and won 43% of overall sales during the period, with electricals retailers recording strong sales growth of 19.1%.
The discounting bonanza also triggered an upswing in online sales, up 24.9% year-on-year.
Figures edged up 0.5% excluding fuel on a monthly basis after a strong retail performance in October.
KPMG head of retail Paul Martin said: “The month’s figures were not quite as spectacular as October’s 7.4% increase, but certainly nothing at which retailers will be turning their noses up.”
Retail sales volumes were also up 2.1% on a three-month basis and up 5% in value during the same period.
Retail prices also edged up 0.1% last month, marking the first year-on-year price increase since June 2014.
Barclays head of retail and wholesale Ian Gilmartin said: “The first average price increase in over two years is a notable development, but we need to take care when analysing what this means for the industry, as fuel was a major contributor and assessing price moves during a month disrupted by Black Friday requires some caution.
“That said, it does appear that as anticipated, we’re entering a new period in terms of price and retailers will have to carefully consider pricing strategies as we move into 2017.”
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