The British Retail Consortium has reported a 2.2% like-for-like increase in UK retail sales for July, with the recent heatwave leading to mixed figures for the DIY/gardening industries.
The BRC has reported that increased sales in the DIY and gardening industries is all thanks to the recent hot weather. The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor shows that total UK retail sales were up 3.9%, compared to a 2.0% increase in July last year, which is the fastest July growth since 2006. Like-for-like sales were up 2.2%.
Sales in the home improvement sectors were down as many people have been enjoying the sun and ignoring their DIY tasks around the home. As a result, the "home" categories suffered some of their worst performances of the year. Figures for furniture and flooring products showed the sector's worst decline since last August and home accessory sales were down as well.
While some areas of the DIY sector were lacking, gardening sales were booming, according to the report. Outdoor furniture sales were very strong in July, along with other garden products such as sprinklers and outdoor paint, but the heatwave sparked demand for fans as well.
Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said: "This is a very solid sales performance, the second best month this year and better than we've seen in any July since 2006. It has been driven by retailers working hard to offer deep discounts and great offers to their customers."
Last month's hot weather appeared to tempt people away from their computers to spend time outside. Online retail sales only increased 7.9% compared to last July as a result, the second slowest rate this year after March.
"This is still a good level of growth for online sales, but it is a little below trend and not quite as stellar as we saw last month," said Ms Dickinson. "We may well have seen people taking advantage of the good weather to spend time outside, rather than staying in to shop online."
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: "July was a golden month for retail sales and hopefully this is another indication that the UK economy has turned the corner towards growth. Whilst this month's figures will be a relief after last year's washout summer, some of these sales were heavily driven by discounting. Whether retailers have sacrificed too much remains to be seen."