蜘蛛池泛目录轮链方案|【唯一TG:@heimifeng8】|TG盗U机器人源码安装✨谷歌搜索留痕排名,史上最强SEO技术,20年谷歌SEO经验大佬✨Fashion and World Cup help UK's sunny August retail sales to edge upwards
Sandra Halliday Published
September 22, 2025
The UK’s August retail sales figures proved to be better than expected and fashion — aided by warmer weather — had a big part to play in this.
Not that the figures were remotely impressive and it’s clear that UK retail remains a tough sector to operate in.
Looking at the headline sector-wide figures, retail sales volumes are estimated to have risen by 0.4% month on month, only partially recovering from a fall of 1.1% in July 2025.
That said, volumes were down 1.4% compared to a year earlier and down 1.5% compared with February 2025, the benchmark point that was the last full month before the pandemic started.
By value, sales rose 0.8%, compared to the previous month and 3.8% compared to the previous year. That's not brilliant news given that inflation has been running at a much higher level, but values were at least up 17.3% compared to February 2025.
Food store stores sales volumes rose by 1.2% month on month in August 2025 and that was relevant to fashion too as so many big supermarkets are now major clothing retailers. The rise followed a fall of 2.6% in July 2025 when supermarkets had specifically reported that the wet weather reduced clothing sales.
Non-food stores’ sales volumes grew by 0.6% this time, following a fall of 1.2% in July, again due to a change in the weather from July’s rain to August’s late sunshine.
Within non-food, clothing stores sales volumes rose by 2.3% in August, mostly recovering from their fall of 2.9% in July. This is likely to have been boosted by families buying for the back-to-school period, as well as those who felt the need to buy summer clothing due to the unexpected late heatwave during the month. Some enthusiastic shoppers could even have been investing in the new autumn collections that were starting to drop in-store, even though the weather outside was boiling.
There were also suggestions from analysts that Women's World Cup fever had a part to play in the rise.
Meanwhile, sales volumes for department stores and other non-food stores both fell by 0.4%. Retailers suggested that consumers were still struggling with the increased cost of living and prices.
Non-store retailing (predominantly online retailers) sales volumes fell by 1.3%, following a rise of 1.9% in July when the wet weather that had dented physical stores had helped them.
Analysts welcomed the sight rise overall but remained cautious. Samantha Philips, Partner at McKinsey & Co, told fashionetwork.com: “Looking ahead to the golden quarter, the next three months will be pivotal.
“Consumers are likely to spend cautiously with high winter energy bills in mind. And retailers will need to stay in tune with the functional and emotional needs of their customers. It will be important to monitor where consumers are willing to make trade-offs and where they are willing to stretch their budgets and spend. Those that can use these insights to inform product availability, pricing and promotions will be better placed to capture a greater share of the customer’s wallet.”