New figures show that like-for-like retail sales in March rose by 3.2% on the same month last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

These figures mark the strongest growth since January 2014 but were boosted by pre-Easter trading.  This figure covered the five weeks to April 4 - the day before Easter Sunday. This means the pre-Easter spending and preparations influenced these figures unlike last year when Easter fell later.                                                           

Continued growth for retail

The growth is the third consecutive month of improvement in retail sales improvement since a drop in December.

Food was the strongest sector last month with its best trading figures since July 2013. This was due to shoppers stocking up before Easter.

However, supermarkets continue to struggle despite some signs of a slow fight back. Prices continued to drop in supermarkets as competition from discount stores hit hard.

Although supermarkets were selling more, the price deflation meant that overall they were standing still.

Online versus the high street

The three-month weighted average figures did offer some hope for high street stores as they contributed more to growth than online sales for the first time since August 2014.

Furniture and household appliances were the second largest contribution to growth thanks in part to the booming housing market.

However, cold weather hit the sales of spring clothing, especially women’s wear.

BRC director general Helen Dickinson says that retailers should be happy with the consumer response to Mother's Day and Easter offerings, but warned that the forthcoming April figures could be hit by the non-inclusion of the Easter period this year.

Tom Grounds, senior research analyst at Strutt & Parker said: “The strong retail trading figures suggest that consumers are shrugging off the ‘election uncertainty.’

"On the commercial side we have certainly seen investors start to regain confidence in the sector, with the shopping centre development pipeline beginning to increase as retailer demand for space recovers.

"Whilst the contribution to sales growth from the high street provides evidence that it  is far from dead as a retail concept. Indeed it may be true that the rise of click and collect is helping to drive sales back to stores.”

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