High street sales edge higher after recent falls — BDO

High street sales rose slightly last week after three straight weeks of declines, as online growth made up for weakness in store.

According to the BDO's High Street Sales Tracker, like-for-like sales increased by 0.97% in the week ended 22 October, from a flat base of +0.27% the same week last year.

That follows a 5.98% year-on-year fall in sales the previous week, and 6.54% and 4.93% declines the two weeks prior.

Non-store sales improved at an annual rate of 2.04% last week, but in-store sales declined by 1.04%, as wet and chilly conditions across the UK dragged total footfall down 1.6%.

High street footfall was down 3.3% and shopping centres saw 1.6% fewer visitors, while retail park footfall grew 2.1%.