The UK’s official statistics body released its retail sales figures for August on Friday and the overall number was up, with clothing being one of the most buoyant categories.
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Retail sales volumes are estimated to have risen by 0.5% in August 2025, following an increase of 0.5% in July (revised down from a 0.6% rise in the last bulletin). Clothing stores, butchers and bakers, and non-store retailing grew in August, which some retailers attributed to the good weather. Textile, clothing and shoe stores actually rose 1.3% for the month.
But volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in the three months to August 2025 when compared with the three months to May 2025. Although increases in non-store retailing and clothing stores (the former up 2.9% and the latter up 2.2%) helped to partly offset drops in other sectors.
August marked the third consecutive period of monthly growth, but volumes didn’t quite return to their recent March 2025 peak and are still below the last month before the pandemic hit the UK (February 2020).
The amount spent online rose by 2% when comparing the three months to August 2025 with the three months to May 2025, and by 3.4% year on year.
In addition to those figures, there were some interesting stats released Friday by Shopify with its MD EMEA, Deann Evans, saying its data showed back-to-school shopping “remained a key driver, with the sales of school uniforms up by 55.2% compared to July”.
But the data also showed that “consumers are already looking ahead to the festive season, with sales of advent calendars up 36.3%, wreaths up 32.7%, and fireworks and firecrackers up 15.4% in August. This could be an early indication that households are spreading out festive spending and avoiding a last-minute rush”.
Analysts were generally upbeat but also cautious with Oliver Vernon-Harcourt, head of retail at Deloitte, saying: “Retail sales in August were bolstered by continued warm weather as consumers enjoyed the final month of summer. Encouragingly, spending on discretionary items including clothing also rose. While the summer months have been positive for retail sales, all eyes are now on the Golden Quarter – the most important few months of the year for retailers. The change of the seasons in September should no doubt encourage consumers to purchase items for their winter wardrobes, but many businesses will be hoping that rain doesn’t deter shoppers from the high street.”
Meanwhile Jacqueline Windsor, Head of Retail at PwC, said: “Overall, August caps off a better-than-expected summer, particularly for non-food retailers, with sales of seasonal lines boosted by the hottest summer temperatures on record. However, overall sales volumes remain below pre-pandemic levels, so the high street is far from being out of the woods. After some respite from the cost-of-living crisis last year, over four in five consumers now tell us they are concerned about inflation”.
And that’s a concern that can’t be ignored as consumer confidence was down two points in September to -19, according to GfK’s long-running monthly measurement that was also released on Friday.
All measures were down in comparison to last month’s announcement.
Neil Bellamy, GfK’s Consumer Insights Director, said: “There’s an autumnal chill in the air this month, with all five measures of consumer confidence down and the Overall Index Score for September slipping. The August seventh decrease in interest rates does not appear to have provided any obvious boost to the financial mood of consumers or drawn attention away from day-to-day cost issues. Both personal finance measures – past and future – are lower, while our major purchases measure has dropped three points to -16.
“Even more striking is an eight-point fall in saving intentions. Looking at the economy, sentiment is sliding sharply: in June 2024 our forward-looking measure stood at -11, but just 15 months later it has slumped to -32. Perceptions of the past year remain weak too, down three from last month to -45. With tax rises expected in the November budget, the risk is that confidence inevitably falls, just like the autumn leaves.”
