+1.3% year on year. That is all UK retail sales grew in September, according to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor published on 13 October by the British Retail Consortium. In September 2025, the same measure stood at +2.3%. The 12-month average is 1.5%.
Food did nearly all the work: +2.5%, against +4.3% a year earlier. Non-food barely moved at +0.3%: +0.1% in store, +0.7% online. Online now accounts for 38.3% of non-food purchases, up from 37.9% in September 2025.
Beauty and toys hold up, fashion slips
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, described households as “still cautious with their spending” ahead of expected rises in bills and taxes. The month still had winners. Health and beauty posted its strongest month of the year so far, as shoppers kept buying small indulgences. Toys were helped by the launch of Pokémon’s 30th anniversary products.
Clothing and footwear had a weak month, hit by unseasonably warm weather despite back-to-school spending. Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer, retail and leisure at KPMG, called it “a battle for share of wallet, with shoppers prioritising some categories while postponing purchases elsewhere”. Over the past three months, non-food sales have declined slightly.
All eyes on the Budget
The BRC used the figures to press the government. For Helen Dickinson, the coming Budget is “a critical test”. Another rise in business rates, she warned, “would push up pressure on prices, choke off high-street investment and put local jobs at risk”.
KPMG points to a more down-to-earth brake. With Black Friday approaching, some consumers wonder whether today’s purchase might be cheaper tomorrow. If part of September’s weakness is deferred rather than lost demand, spending can still come back before the end of the year. But retailers, Linda Ellett warned, will need to balance customers’ appetite for value against the need to protect margins.
The monitor covers five weeks, from 30 August to 3 October 2026.
Sources
Photo: No Swan So Fine, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.