UK April clothing sales strongest since 2006

Within clothing warmer weather and added discounting boosted spend on summer clothes. The BRC said fashion sales had been led by womenswer and kidswear, which was particularly helped by the school holidays. Within womenswear summer dresses, T-shirts and casual blouses were popular but formal styles lagged. Menswear also lagged behind. There were some gains on casual summer garments but suits and formal shirts were weaker.

Internet and mail order sales of non-food categories were ahead 12.5%, slightly ahead of March when growth stood at 10.8% but not to the levels seen in November and December (30%), suggesting online sales are still coming under pressure from the recession. The BRC pointed out that the gap between growth in internet sales and sales from bricks-and-mortar stores had narrowed.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: “The best sales growth for three years is good news but let’s be cautious. A sunny Easter that fell in April this year is the key reason why overall sales are up compared with last year when Easter was in March and miserable. Sales of garden goods, outdoor leisure, clothing and food did well but other non-food sectors missed out on the seasonal boost and the total spent on food rose less than food inflation, indicating the amount sold dropped.”