UK retail sales growth slowed in July as prolonged hot weather weighed on store visits and non-food demand, while food sales remained resilient.
Total retail sales increased 1.3% year on year during the four weeks to 1 August, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), below the 2.5% growth recorded in July 2025 and the 12-month average of 1.8%.
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Food sales provided most of the growth, rising 3.8% year on year. Non-food sales fell 0.7%, with weakness concentrated in physical stores amid lower footfall during the sustained summer heat.
The figures point to an uneven retail environment, with consumers continuing to spend on food and selected summer products while remaining cautious about higher-value discretionary purchases.
Food sales outperform
Food sales increased 3.8% year on year in July, compared with 3.9% growth in July 2025 and above the 12-month average of 3.4%.
The BRC said the final week of the men’s World Cup provided an additional boost to food sales as consumers bought food and drink to watch matches.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said July delivered modest overall sales growth, with food benefiting from the tournament while non-food sales were affected by lower footfall during the hot weather.
Clothing was among the stronger non-food categories as consumers bought summer essentials, while footwear underperformed.
Shoppers also favoured smaller discretionary purchases, including beauty products and fashion jewellery, while delaying higher-value purchases such as furniture and computing equipment.
Heat weighs on store-based sales
The divergence between retail channels was more pronounced in non-food.
Overall non-food sales fell 0.7% year on year in July, compared with growth of 1.4% a year earlier and a 12-month average increase of 0.4%.
In-store non-food sales declined 1.9%, while online non-food sales increased 1.3%, showing that the weakness was concentrated in physical retail.
The proportion of non-food purchases made online rose to 35.9% from 35.4% in July 2025.
Separate BRC-Sensormatic data showed total UK retail footfall fell 2.1% year on year in July, providing further evidence of pressure on physical stores during the heatwave.
High streets were particularly affected, with footfall declining 3.8%. Retail park visits, by contrast, increased 1.2%, while shopping centre footfall fell 1.4%.
Together, the sales and footfall figures point to a divergence between channels and locations, with online demand and retail park visits proving more resilient than high streets.
BRC presses government over retail costs
The BRC warned that weaker non-food performance comes as retailers continue to face high operating costs and household budgets remain under pressure.
Dickinson said retailers had limited capacity to absorb further cost increases without consequences for investment and consumer prices.
“Consumer demand has struggled in the heat, leaving retailers facing a challenging start to the second half of the year,” she said.
The trade body is calling for government action on business rates, packaging taxes and employment costs, warning that further increases could constrain investment and add pressure to consumer prices.
Retailers look to autumn
The July figures point to an uneven summer trading environment, with food and online channels proving more resilient than store-based non-food sales.
Consumers also remained selective about discretionary spending, with demand holding up for smaller purchases and summer products while some higher-value categories struggled.
The contrast between declining in-store non-food sales and growth online also highlights how the prolonged hot weather affected where consumers chose to shop, rather than producing a uniform slowdown across retail.
The next test will be whether demand strengthens as temperatures ease and retailers enter the autumn trading period, with pressure on household budgets and operating costs continuing to pose risks to sales growth.
