According to an official report, retailers blamed election uncertainty, poor weather and low footfall for flat retail sales in June.
The Office of National Statistics reported retail sales volumes were estimated to have fallen by 1.2% in June, following a rise of 2.9% in May 2024.
Volumes fell by 0.2% over the year to June 2024, and were 1.3% below their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level in February 2020.
Sponsored Video
More broadly, there was a 0.1% fall in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024, when compared with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024.
This decline in sales volumes were across most sectors, but non-food stores sale volumes fell by 2.1% in June 2024, which followed a rise of 3.3% in May 2024.
The ONS stated retailers cited election uncertainty, poor weather, and low footfall affected sales.
When comparing Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024 with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024, non-food stores sales volumes fell by 0.5%.
The amount spent online, known as “online spending values”, also fell by 2.7% during June 2024, but was up 2.3% on June last year.
Total in-store and online sales fell by 1.3% over the month, with the proportion of online sales having dipped from 27.5% in May 2024 to 27.1% in June 2024.