UK retail sales volumes last month showed their biggest year-on-year rise since May 2004, boosted by the Black Friday shopping frenzy adopted from the US, official figures have shown.
The data, published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, showed that retail sales volumes in November were up by 6.4 per cent on the same month of last year.
This followed a seasonally-adjusted, month-on-month rise of 1.6 per cent in November.
Non-food sales volumes leapt by 2.6 per cent between October and November, to stand 10.8 per cent higher than in the same month of last year.
Sales volumes in the non-specialised category, which takes in department stores, also jumped by 2.6 per cent month-on-month. They showed a 15.5 per cent year-on-year rise in November.
The data showed that sales through online channels leapt during the month and were sharply higher on a year-on-year basis.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at consultancy IHS Global Insight, said: "Retail sales were clearly boosted substantially by consumers taking advantage of many retailers offering major discounts and promotions on Black Friday. The extent of the offers made by retailers was highlighted by the retail sales deflator being down a record two per cent year-on-year in November."
He added: "A key question for retailers will be to what extent strong sales on Black Friday just pulled forward sales from December."
Maeve Johnston, UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said: "Black Friday discounts provided a significant boost to November's retail sales volumes."
"However, the underlying picture looks strong too and we remain optimistic on the prospects for retail spending over the coming year."
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