Consumer Snippets – 17 July 2026

June retail sales disappoint

The June BRC Retail Sales data showed softer LFL growth than the market was forecasting, as LFL sales rose 1.7% YoY against consensus of 2.9%, a miss of 1.2pp, and slowed from 3.4% in May. Total sales rose 1.9%, in line with the 12-month average and down from 3.7%. Growth roughly halved despite the two tailwinds of the heatwave and the World Cup group stage during the month. On a Total basis, in-store non-food fell 1.1% while online non-food rose 5.1%, lifting online penetration to 39.0% from 37.7% and the highest of 2026.

Non-food overall rose 1.2%, double its 12-month average of 0.6%, but the entire delta sat online. Food rose 2.8%, below its 12-month average of 3.4%. Barclays cut the other way, with card spending up 1.9% against 0.8% in May and essential spending up 2.2%, the largest rise in 14 months.

A worrying month for retailers given the uncertain economic outlook for the remainder of 2026.