Retail sales dip unexpectedly in November as Black Friday fizzles

Retail sales dipped unexpectedly last month as cautious shoppers prevailed and Black Friday discounts failed to boost spending in the run-up to Christmas, official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total volume of retail sales is estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in November.

This follows a 0.9% drop in October, and was a surprise decline as most analysts had been expecting a 0.4% increase for the month.

Supermarket sales fell for the fourth month in a row, by 0.5% in November, with retailers reporting a lower number of shoppers coming to stores.

The ONS also said the effect of Black Friday – with discounts typically stretching well beyond the specific end-of-November date – appeared to be slightly weaker this year than usual.

It was a disappointing month for non-store retailers – which primarily includes online shops but also sellers like street stalls and markets – with sales dropping by 2.9%.

In particular, online jewellers noted reduced demand following a period of stronger interest in gold.

ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: “This year November’s Black Friday discounts did not boost sales as much as in some recent years, meaning that once we adjust for usual seasonality, our headline figures fell a little on the month.

“Meanwhile, our separate household survey showed that although some people said they were planning to do more shopping this Black Friday than last, almost twice as many said they were planning to do less.”

Nevertheless, the data showed that department stores’ sales volumes jumped by 2.3% in November, which some retailers said was down to a longer period of Black Friday discounting.

The volume of sales for clothes and shoe shops also rose by 1.7%, and for household goods by 1.8%.