British retailers saw a slowdown in sales growth last month, despite being buoyed by strong consumer demand for new technology, according to official data.

Technology and telecommunications retailers experienced a significant boost, with sales surging by more than a third, largely thanks to the launch of new products such as Apple’s iPhone 16.

Overall, total retail sales volumes, which reflect the quantity of goods purchased, rose by 0.3% in September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported. This follows a more robust 1% growth in August.

While the September growth rate was slower than the previous month, it exceeded expectations. Many economists had anticipated a slight decline for the month, but the actual figures surprised on the upside.

Hannah Finselbach, senior statistician at the ONS, commented: “Retail sales grew in September, driven largely by a notable increase in tech store sales. However, this was partially offset by weaker performance in supermarkets, where poor weather and households cutting back on luxury food items negatively impacted sales.”

Looking at the bigger picture, retail sales increased over the third quarter as a whole, with growth across all main shop types, she added.

Non-food stores, including clothing and technology outlets, saw a sales volume increase of 2.5% in September, a significant improvement from the 0.6% growth recorded in August. This was primarily fueled by tech and telecom stores, where sales volumes soared by 34.7%, spurred by new product launches such as the iPhone 16.

Department stores also enjoyed a positive month, with sales rising by 1.9% in September.

However, food retailers had a tougher month, with sales volumes dropping by 1.9%, primarily due to supermarket underperformance. UK supermarkets saw a 2.4% decline in sales volumes—their largest monthly drop of the year—blaming bad weather and shoppers cutting back on luxury items as they sought to save money.

Lisa Hooker, leader of consumer markets at PwC UK, said: “It would have been challenging to replicate August’s strong retail sales performance, and indeed, September’s results showed a slight slowdown. Overall growth was held back by an unexpected dip in grocery sales, which declined year-on-year after a strong run, contrasting with reports from major supermarkets.

“Another category in decline was household goods, which wasn’t surprising given continued consumer caution around discretionary spending and bigger-ticket purchases.” Photo by メイド理世, Wikimedia commons.