Furniture was the top-performing category in the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for May 2015, achieving its best growth since last July, barring Easter distortions, and despite GfK’s Climate for Major Purchases Index dropping 4 points to 2 in May. Even with pre-election uncertainty, big-ticket items like dining and bedroom furniture sold particularly well, according to the report.
Home Accessories, along with the other home categories, picked up the deficit in demand for the fashion categories, at fourth in the growth rankings.
Overall, UK retail sales were flat on a like-for-like basis from May 2014, when they had increased 0.5% on the preceding year. On a total basis, sales were up 1.1%, against a 2% rise in May 2014 and behind the three-month and 12-month averages of 1.8% and 1.4% respectively. Online sales of Non-Food products in the UK grew 9.9% in May versus a year earlier, when they had grown 17%. The Non-Food online penetration rate was 17.4%, up from 16.2% in May 2014.
Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), says: “May witnessed a slow down in sales growth, below the three-month and 12-month average. This was mainly due to fashion sales, which experienced a decline compared with the same month last year, where we saw record demand. Nevertheless, May also had some positive developments. Amongst all categories, furniture performed strongest, an indication of continuing consumer confidence."
