UK sales growth slows in December as customers hold off for discounts

“It was a drab Christmas for retailers,” Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said in commentary on the organisation’s latest sales figures for the month of December. While total retail sales across the UK rose by 1.2 percent year-on-year, this reflected a slow down in growth for the month, which saw sales rise 3.2 percent in 2024.

As food sales rose on the back of ongoing category inflation, non-food sales remained flat ahead of Christmas, “with gifting items doing worse than expected”, Dickinson said. Non-food sales marginally decreased by 0.3 percent YoY, against a growth of 4.4 percent in the year prior. This came below the 12-month average growth of 1.1 percent.

In-store sales saw the sharpest decline at 0.5 percent YoY, while online sales for non-food fell 0.1 percent, against a growth of 11.1 percent in 2024. Dickinson said there was evidence that customers were holding off for discounts, as shown in significant growth off the back of Boxing Day and beginning of the January sales.

“These figures show that consumer spending remains cautious, with households squeezed by the rising cost of living,” Dickinson said. “Now is the time to support struggling families with the cost of food and essentials and give the economy the boost it needs. From business rates to the implementation of the Employment Rights Act, there are plenty of opportunities for government to mitigate costs for retailers and prices for customers.”