While the non-food category saw declines during the four-week period, homeware retailers were a “success story”, says the British Retail Consortium in its latest retail sales monitor.

Figures reported in the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for the four weeks ended July 29, 2017 revealed that UK retail sales increased by 1.4%, up 0.9% on a like-for-like (LFL) basis from July 2016, when they had increased 1.1% LFL from the preceding year.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson OBE said: “The month’s growth was underpinned by food sales alone, while non- food sales relapsed into negative territory as the competition heats up over a shrinking pool of discretionary consumer spending power.

Food sales delivered solid growth during the month and over the three months to July, while non-food did not fare so well. Over the three-months to July, non-food retail sales in the UK decreased by 0.7% on a like-for-like basis and by 0.4% on a total basis. This is below the 12-month total average growth of 0.4%.

Ms Dickinson continued: “Despite the gloomy picture for non-food overall, there were some success stories. The homewares category for instance, which lost out in the previous month to summer wardrobe purchases, moved to the top of the performance rankings.”

KPMG UK head of retail Paul Martin added that “the rainy month turned attention indoors, with furniture and home accessory sales benefiting.”

John Lewis has reported strong sales of home products in recent weeks, with sales in the category up 7.7% for the last week of July and 5.8% for the first week of August. During the most recent week, textiles and home accessories enjoyed strong? growth, with sales up 9.3% on the same week last year. Bedroom furniture and mattresses were also up 9%, and cookware and dining categories saw sales rise by 3.2%.

The BRC-KPMG Sales Monitor reported that all categories performed well online, with sales of non-food products up 8.3% in July, compared to 11.2% a year earlier. Over the three-months to July, online sales of non-food products grew 7.8% while the 12-month average stands at 8.4%.

KPMG UK head of retail Paul Martin concluded: “Interestingly, July retail sales diverge from the latest consumer confidence figures, which noted a downturn in consumer sentiment. This divide suggests that UK shopping patterns remain mixed, although with demand continuing to be weak, retailers would be wise to remain cautious.”