Retail food sales rose in September, says British Retail Consortium report

The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for September reveals that total food sales in the UK increased by 0.2% in the quarter to September.

According to these figures, like-for-like retail sales saw a year on year increase of 2.6%, and total non-food sales grew by 3.7% in the three months to September.

Sales boost

Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium director general, commented: “September was a bright month for retail, with the strongest sales performance since January of last year, excluding Easter distortions."

“However, sales growth was boosted by the August Bank Holiday, which fell in this period as opposed to August last year, shifting back-to-school sales into September, so such strong growth is likely to be overstated.”

Events

Events such as the Rugby World Cup also helped food sales, which in real terms saw the highest 12-month average sales since February 2011. However, although consumer demand increased, it has to be measured against a background of strong competition in the sector.

Head of retail at KPMG, David McCorquodale, said: “Despite the start of the Rugby World Cup encouraging people to get the beers and burgers in, food and drink sales showed no signs of accelerating in the three months July to September. Grocers will be hoping that consumers will continue to revel in the atmosphere in spite of England’s early exit from the tournament."

Christmas run-up

The final quarter of 2015 sees the annual run-up to Christmas and the start of festive marketing campaigns. The recent addition of 'Black Friday' to the calendar for UK retailers is also expected to break records once again.