Retail sales volumes edged up in November, ONS reports

Sales volumes were up 0.2% in November, according to the ONS. That represented a month-on-month improvement, from October, when there was a fall of 0.7%.

Year on year, sales volumes rose by 0.5% and saw a 1.9% rise on a three-month basis.

The data, covering the four weeks to November 23, does not include the effect of Black Friday, which fell at the end of the month and was outside the reporting period.

The ONS said that growth recorded by supermarkets and various non-food stores was “partly offset by a fall in clothing retailers”.

Food stores – mainly supermarkets – sales volumes increased for the first time in three months and were up 0.5%. Non-food store sales volumes – the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores – rose 0.2% over the month.

Clothing stores sales volumes fell by 2.6% in November, following a 3.5% fall in October 2024. That left clothing stores sales volumes at their lowest level since January 2022.

The amount spent online fell 4.3% during November 2024, the biggest fall since March 2022.

PwC UK leader of industry for consumer markets said: “These numbers should be interpreted with caution,  as the reporting period this year ends one week prior to Black Friday unlike last year, and includes the disruption caused by snow and Storm Bert in the second half of the month.

“The overwhelmingly online nature of Black Friday also meant that these figures showed a slowdown in ecommerce penetration as shoppers waited for the best bargains to drop the week after reporting ended.”