July sales slow but furnishing does well
August 10, 2021
Against a backdrop of slowing retail sales last month, furnishing stores continue to do well and credit card sales in the sector are booming.
High Street sales increased by 6.4% in July, against a growth of 3.2% in July 2020 according to the BRC's latest data. This marks a slowdown as it is below the 3-month average growth of 14.7% and the 12-month average growth of 10.4%.
“July continued to see strong sales, although growth has started to slow. The lifting of restrictions did not bring the anticipated in-store boost, with the wet weather leaving consumers reluctant to visit shopping destinations," says Helen Dickinson, BRC Chief Executive. "However, homeware, such as furniture and household appliances continued to do well."
The ongoing strength of the furnishing sector was backed up by Barclaycard whose credit card sales figures showed growth of 32% during July for furnishing stores compared to overall growth across retail of 11.6% for the month, compared to 2019 data.
Raheel Ahmed, Head of Consumer Products at Barclaycard said: "“While some sectors took a small step back as the post-lockdown ‘honeymoon’ period cooled, July was a positive month. However, with inflation expected to rise, it will be interesting to see how this impacts consumer spending behaviour over the coming months.”
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