UK general consumer spending and specific retail sales moved up in August, two reports showed on Tuesday, but there was both good and bad news for fashion.

Barclays said that consumer card spending returned to growth, rising 1% year-on-year following two consecutive months of declines, although that was well below the latest CPIH inflation rate of 3.1% so volumes were clearly down.

Non-essential spending also revived (up 0.7%) “thanks to the late arrival of barbecue weather propping up butchers and garden centres”. 

Meanwhile, nearly half of Britons said that they’re treating themselves to affordable, mood-boosting luxuries, such as pastries and cosmetics, even while tightening budgets.

Apart from general consumer spending, Barclays said retail returned to growth for the first time since March, although the rise was only 0.1%. 

But while the onset of sunny weather last month helped garden centres, it had minimal impact on clothing retailers, which saw only a mild ‘improvement’, actually declining 1.7% compared to a 2.3% drop in July, “as clothing remains one of the most common areas for consumers to cut back on”.

Barclays explained that of the 46% of Britons who say they’re planning to make cutbacks, 53% say they’ll spend less on clothing and accessories.

Meanwhile, figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG for their regular Retail Sales Monitor showed that the four weeks from 28 July to 24 August saw total retail sales rising 1% year-on-year, much lower than the 4.3% seen a year ago. That said, the figure was above the three-month average growth of 0.4% but below the 12-month average growth of 1.2%.

The bad news was that non-food sales fell 17% over the three-months to August, against a decline of 0.2% in August 2023, although this is better than the 12-month average decline of 2%. For the month of August alone, non-food was also in decline.

Physical stores fared the worst. In-store non-food sales over the three months to August fell 2.8% against growth of 1.3% in August 2023. But online, such sales rose by 1.5% in August, against an average decline of 1.7% in August 2023. 

That said, clothing — contradicting the Barclays figures and despite consumers intending to cut back — was in positive territory, although the Retail Sales Monitor didn’t say by how much.

BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said: “While computing did well as university students made the most of summer discounting and readied themselves for the new academic year, other back to school related sales were weaker than normal as some families opted for secondhand purchases.”

And Linda Ellett, UK Head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure, KPMG, added: “Despite summer finally making an appearance, and a slight uptick in consumer confidence, shoppers did not catch-up their spending during August, with total sales growth of only 1% reflecting the challenging retail environment that is likely to dominate for the rest of this year.

“After many tough months of falling sales, sports and travel equipment enjoyed a welcome boost during this key summer holiday period, and sales of clothing also saw a second month of growth on the high street. Fashion retailers will be hoping sales growth continues as they look to dispose of excess summer stock as we head into the key autumn season.

“Consumer sentiment is gradually starting to improve, but there still remains some nervousness around potential tax rises and the cost of putting the heating back on when the cooler weather arrives. The fragile nature of consumer confidence means shoppers will continue to be driven by price and value, moving from brand to brand to find the best price benefit and we are likely to see retailers using promotional activity to seek to win at this.”