The latest report from the Office for National Statistics has revealed an overall sunny picture for retail during September (up an estimated 2.5% in volume and 3.2% spend) but the household goods sector saw a dip of 2.7% in goods bought and 2.4% in spend compared with September 2011.
Average prices in this sector were estimated to have increased by 0.3% year on year. The sector also continued to see a smaller percentage of total sales made over the internet (5.5%, amounting to £30.2m) compared with other sectors.

Across retail as a whole, the ONS estimated the amount of goods bought increased 0.6% from August to September 2012, following a 0.1% fall between July and August. The amount spent was also estimated to have increased, by 1.1% between August and September 2012.

The average weekly spend across all retailing in September was estimated at £6.6bn, compared with £6.5 in August 2012 and £6.4bn in September 2011. The average weekly online spend in September 2012 was estimated to be £507.8 million, which was an increase of 9.4% when compared with September 2011.

Household goods stores saw year-on-year growth of 10.4% in online sales performance.