Bad news for British retail came on Friday. Retail sales volumes (that is, the quantity bought) are estimated to have fallen by 1.2% in June month on month, following a rise of 2.9% in May 2024.

Sales volumes fell across most sectors, with department stores and clothing retailers broadly returning to their weak January-March levels. In fact, department stores were the worst-performing channel of all of those that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) tracked, while clothing retailers were among the stragglers.

Non-food stores’ sales volumes (the total of department, clothing, household, and other non-food stores) fell by 2.1% after a rise of 3.3% in May. All sub-sectors fell over the month. Retailers suggested election uncertainty, poor weather, and low footfall affected sales. 

Volumes also fell by 0.2% year on year and were 1.3% below their pre-Covid level of February 2020.

The amount spent online also fell by 2.7% during June, month on month, but rose by 2.3% compared with June 2023.

And looking at total spend rater than volumes, the sum of in-store and online sales, fell by 1.3% over the month.

Jacqui Baker, head of retail at consulting firm RSM UK, said: “Retailers will be disappointed to see May’s bounceback in retail sales was short-lived, with election uncertainty and poor weather pushing sales volumes back in the red in June. Despite continued improvement in consumer confidence, sadly, this failed to translate into sales as a reluctance to spend took over.

“Not even Taylor Swift’s UK tour and Glastonbury were able to provide a boost in clothing sales. The hope is that there are more positive months to come, helped by better weather and various sporting events.

“Retailers are looking to the government for support. As announced in the King’s Speech, legislation to tackle retail crime is crucial, as it often has devastating repercussions. But there was no mention of business rates, the biggest burden for the sector, so clarity is needed on what proposed reform will look like in practice.”

And Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium, added: “It has been a gloomy start to Summer spending. Sales volumes declined due to the colder than usual June and high costs for households. 

“Categories sensitive to weather, such as clothing performed particularly poorly. With the summer social season nearly in full swing, and a new government offering a fresh approach to the economy, retailers are hopeful that consumer confidence will improve, and spending will pick back up. The King’s speech laid the foundations for a more modern and dynamic British economy, and retailers look forward to working closely with government to maximise the industry’s contribution. This includes greater investment in skills and training, and using reforms to planning laws to create thriving town and city centres.”

Finally, Bogdan Toma, partner at McKinsey & Company, said: “It will be a heated summer for UK retailers, never mind the weather. Looking ahead to the summer quarter, retailers will continue to actively compete for a probable flat demand. Holidays and the last of Summer’s big sporting events could be a double-edged sword for retail demand. Ultimately competitiveness around core proposition, including pricing and promotion, but also customer experience, assortment and availability, are what British retailers will be busy with this summer.”