Retail sales fell one per cent last month when compared to February 2013, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has announced.
Total sales growth in February 2014 slowed to 0.7 per cent after a strong January which saw record numbers for sales growth. This is in contrast to the 4.4 per cent increase in February 2013.
Key findings:
- Average sales in the three months to February rose 2.8 per cent year-on-year
- Average sales growth over the last 12 months is now at 2.7 per cent
- Online non-food sales grew 14.3 per cent year-on-year in February 2014
- Home accessories was the top performing category, followed by furniture and flooring.
Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC, said:
“This slower growth might have been expected in some ways, given the record sales figures we saw in January and the strong results that we are comparing against from last year.
“If they were taken together, the figures from the last three months show a 2.8 per cent average growth in the retail industry, a modest increase on the 12 month average.”
