UK Retail Sales Fall in September
UK discretionary retail sales experienced their weakest September in seven years, excluding the pandemic, as household finances faced pressure ahead of the Christmas trading period.
Like-for-like sales across discretionary categories fell 0.3 per cent compared with September 2025, according to BDO‘s High Street Sales Tracker.
Online sales declined 1.1 per cent year on year, which is the weakest September for online sales since BDO‘s comparable records began, excluding the pandemic period.
The report suggests shoppers largely skipped the usual September spending spree, skipping back-to-school shopping and seasonal wardrobe updates, leaving retailers without their expected seasonal lift.
The weakness contrasts with the most recent official data, which showed UK retail sales volumes rising 0.5 per cent between July and August and 2.4 per cent compared with a year earlier.
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Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, described the results as ‘deeply concerning’ and said they come at the worst possible time for retailers. “These results are deeply concerning and come at the worst possible time for retailers,” she said.
Retailers are also confronting higher employment, energy and supply-chain costs while awaiting Chancellor John Healey‘s first Autumn Budget.
Separate evidence from the Confederation of British Industry has pointed to deteriorating conditions. Its September Distributive Trades Survey recorded a balance of minus 62 per cent for orders placed with suppliers, the weakest reading since the survey began in 1983.
BDO warned that retailers could respond to uncertainty over Christmas demand by limiting stock purchases, hiring and investment. Michael said there was a limit to how much of the increase in operating costs retailers could absorb before passing them on through higher prices.
“The retail sector is entering the most important trading period of the year from an exceptionally fragile position,” she said. BDO called on the Chancellor to use the Budget to reduce the cost burden facing the sector, particularly as retailers assess the potential impact of further changes to business rates.
