[caption id="attachment_94741" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted
Source: ONS/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_94742" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: ONS/Coresight Research[/caption]  

Retail Sales Growth by Sector

July was a solid month overall, according to ONS data, though several large sectors missed out. Growth remained modest at grocery stores, with a 1.4% increase in sales versus 1.5% food-sector inflation. In the clothing specialists’ sector, total growth was driven by reported double-digit gains at small retailers; large retailers, which make up about 90% of the clothing sector, saw sales dip very slightly year over year. Department stores/mixed-goods retailers saw a further month of declines, although negative growth moderated to just (0.3)% in July.

Internet pure plays and mail-order retailers saw growth jump to 22.3% in July, from 17.0% in June. One support for this acceleration could have been Amazon’s annual mid-July Prime Day event, which ran for 48 hours this year versus 36 hours in 2018.

A number of sectors continued to post volatile figures that are difficult to explain. These included floor coverings retailers and music and video retailers. The ONS also reported further double-digit growth for health and beauty retailers.

The ONS recorded shop-price inflation of 0.8% in July, up from 0.5% in June.

[caption id="attachment_94743" align="aligncenter" width="700"] *A small retailer is defined as one with fewer than 100 employees or with revenues of £60 million or less per year; all others are large retailers
**A relatively fragmented sector, in which reported figures have traditionally been volatile
Source: ONS [/caption]   Online Retail Sales Growth Total Internet retail sales were up 12.8% year over year in July, versus 8.0% growth in June. In July, Internet sales at food retailers were up just 0.6%, while sales were up 10.3% at nonfood retailers and up 17.9% at nonstore retailers.