The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says November retail trading was saved by Black Friday and online sales - with electrical goods being the top sellers although premium foods also benefited.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says November retail trading was saved by Black Friday and online sales - with electrical goods being the top sellers although premium foods also benefited.
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, which collaborates with BRC to produce the retail figures, said: "Consumers were reluctant to spend too much, too soon until a record breaking Black Friday helped to kick start festive spending."
According to the figures "UK retail sales grew 0.9%, on a like-for-like basis from November 2013, when they had increased 0.6% on the preceding year. On a total basis, sales were up 2.2%, against a 2.3% rise in November 2013. This is the best performance in three months."
Black Friday provided a major boost to the November sales figures.
"November's retail sales demonstrate continued growth in sales across the board compared to last month. The huge demand for bargain TV's and other household appliances on Black Friday, whether for personal use or as presents meant that electricals were the stand out category in terms of sales growth. However retailers also took advantage of the increased footfall generated by Black Friday," said BRC's director general Helen Dickinson.
Helen Dickinson
Although the major winners on Black Friday were electronics and home appliances, the knock-on effect of the increase in traffic actually benefited premium, full priced food categories, according to Dickinson.
She said: "Customers also bought full priced items and showed interest in premium ranges particularly in food and retailers who didn't discount for Black Friday also saw increased sales. These are encouraging signs in the run up to Christmas when consumers will likely want to push the boat out even more."
BRC's said in a statement: "Online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 12.0% in November versus a year earlier, when it had grown 16.0%. The Non-Food online penetration rate was 21.0% in November, the highest on record."
"After years of slow growth this Christmas could be a cracker for the retail sector, with sales surpassing last year's levels," said McCorquodale.
The jump in reported sales was even more impressive given that the food category declined by 1.2%. This was the seventh consecutive month of decline in the food category, but the decline is at a slower rate than previous months, which signals an improvement over October's figures.