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Sandra Halliday Published
December 22, 2025
One day it’s bad news, the next day it’s good. Less than 24 hours after the CBI issued a bleak assessment of the UK’s retail sales in December, the Office for National Statistics said that at least November sales were better than expected.
The official stats body said retail sales volumes are estimated to have increased by 1.3% in November month on month after no growth in October.
And crucially, non-food store sales volumes rose by 2.3%, following just a 0.2% increase in October. Retailers suggested that earlier Black Friday sales and more markdowns contributed to the increase. But while that's encouraging, it could be bad news for profits as such widespread discounting could have damaged margins.
Interestingly though, non-store retailing (predominantly online retailers) sales volumes rose by only 0.2% in November, following a rise of 0.5% in October. It's perhaps a surprise given how important the online channel is for the Black Friday period.
Diving deeper into the figures, the ONS said that the value of retail sales during November was up 1% compared to October and was 3.8% higher year on year. However, that latter figure wasn't quite the impressive news that it looked to be, given that inflation has been running higher than 3.8%.
As mentioned, the volume bought was up 1.3% compared to the previous month, but it rose only 0.1% year on year.
Those figures include petrol and other automotive fuels. When that's taken out of the equation the value of sales rose 1.2% compared to the previous month and 5.7% year on year, which is encouraging.
So let’s look more closely at those non-food figures mentioned earlier. That 2.3% volume rise showed that Black Friday clearly provided a boost to retail sales.
But before we get carried away, it's worth noting that non-food store sales volumes were still 2.7% below their pre-pandemic level in February 2025.
Within non-food, all sub-sectors reported increases in sales volumes over the month. Cosmetics stores “grew strongly” and clothing stores reported a 1.3% increase in November.
And while online sales in general weren't exactly on fire last month, the ONS did say that textile, clothing and footwear online sores saw an increase of 10% year on year in value sales.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said of all this: “Many retailers tried to give sales a needed boost in November by starting their Black Friday sales even earlier this year. Cosmetics and toiletries had another strong month as consumers continued to splurge on smaller indulgences. [But] some categories that usually do well in the Black Friday month, such as household electrical appliances, household goods, and furniture saw weak growth.”
And Jacqui Baker, head of retail at consulting firm RSM UK said: “Retailers got their Christmas gift this year, with Black Friday events providing a much-needed boost to retail sales with the biggest rise since January 2025. Recognising that households are feeling the strain, retailers kicked off their Black Friday offers early and throughout November, which prompted consumers to go out and spend.
“Sales volumes are up 1.3% showing just how important sales events are in these cash-strapped times. The continued improvement in consumer confidence and the economy showing signs it’s on the road to recovery will have also encouraged spending. That said, consumers remain cautious and are still having to make considered choices.
“Looking back at year on year, the lipstick effect continues to boost cosmetic sales with a 14.1% growth overall.”