Retailers enjoyed the biggest jump in sales in 18 months during April as shoppers, forced to stay home by the bitter weather in March, returned to the high street.
Fashion clothing, food and petrol sales bounced back to push sales volumes up 1.6% in April on the previous month as the “beast from the east” receded and the sun came out.
However the Office for National Statistics, which compiled the figures, warned that sales growth remained subdued “with the volume of goods sold over the last six months broadly unchanged”.
A spokesman said: “Over the longer-term retail sales growth has slowed considerably, with increases in food, household goods and internet retailers being largely offset by declines across all other types of retailing.”
A number of retailers are struggling, with Marks & Spencer saying earlier this week it would close 100 stores by 2022.
Department stores were among the biggest losers in April, though this reflected their resilience in March when their internet operations profited from the cold snap.
Sales fell 1.2% in March from February, with petrol sales down 7.4% after large parts of the UK were brought to a standstill by heavy snow and transport delays.
On Thursday, Kingfisher, the owner of the B&Q, reported that its flagship DIY chain had seen a 9% drop in sales in the three months to 30 April. It blamed 6% of the fall on the effects of the snow, which hit sales of outdoor products and forced it to close stores.
Kingfisher’s chief executive, Véronique Laury, described UK market conditions as uncertain with trade at B&Q affected by “soft demand” and a lower number of shoppers out and about. She said the start to the year had been “challenging” as a result of “exceptionally harsh weather”.
Andrew Westbrook, head of retail at accountancy firm RSM, said: “Retail sales were slightly better than expected in April giving operators a chance to partially recover from the poor weather in March.
“The amount spent by shoppers increased by 3.5% when compared with the same month last year. However, while these numbers are encouraging, there is still a Darwinian struggle taking place on the UK high street.”
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said there were reasons to remain downbeat about the prospects for retailers. He said: “With inflation moderating and regular earnings growth firming gradually the squeeze on consumers has eased. Nevertheless, consumers are still under significant pressure and it looks unrealistic to expect a marked upturn in consumer spending any time soon.”
Consumers are expected to have an easier time this year than 2017, when Brexit uncertainty first began to undermine confidence in the economic outlook and real incomes dropped as a result of soaring inflation and lacklustre wage rises.
Since January inflation has dropped from 3% per annum to 2.4% in March while over the same few months regular pay growth has moved up from 2.6% to 2.9%.
Investors were cheered by the recovery in retail sales, briefly sending the pound back above $1.34 while the share prices of supermarkets, which were one of the biggest beneficiaries of the rebound, edged higher after the figures were published.
However, the good news should be tempered, said Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser at PwC, said: “Even though the squeeze from high inflation should ease over the year ahead, consumers are likely to remain cautious as real wages are growing slowly and Brexit uncertainty remains a negative factor weighing on big spending decisions.”
