The British retail sector saw a modest lift in June 2025, with sales volumes rising 0.9% month-on-month, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics.
☀️ Weather Wins Following May’s steep 2.8% decline, the warmest June on record helped drive spending on fuel ⛽, clothing 👕, and drinks 🥤. Supermarkets saw a 0.7% rise after last month’s slump, and automotive fuel sales jumped 2.8%, the strongest gain in over a year.
💻 Online Resilience E-commerce continued to thrive, with online retail up 2.3%, now accounting for 27.8% of all UK retail transactions.
Non-store sales have steadily outpaced traditional footfall, which remains weak in categories like household goods 🛋️ and second-hand stores.
📉 Cautious Optimism Despite the improvement, quarterly growth was a tepid 0.2%, and consumer confidence remains shaky amid inflationary pressure (CPI 3.6%) and speculation about forthcoming tax changes.
📍 Long View Retail volumes are still 1.6% below pre-pandemic benchmarks, highlighting a recovery that’s inching forward rather than sprinting.