Total sales are up 5.6% y/y, the biggest rise in 11 years (apart from easter-related sales)
British Retail Consortium said there were signs that consumers had brought forward some of their Christmas shopping
- "The industry is beginning to recover, however, forced store or warehouse closures during any future lockdowns could put paid to this progress"
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At the same time, credit card data via Barclaycard
- its measure of spending +2% y/y in September (August was +0.2%)
- A quarter of consumers polled by Barclaycard said they had stockpiled last month in case of shortages of goods, as they did in the run-up to the coronavirus lockdown in March.
