Investing.com - UK retail sales fell 0.5% in October, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.
This was compared to a 0.4% decrease in the previous month, which had been revised higher from an initial decline of 0.8%
Economists had forecast a 0.2% advance.
Year-on-year, retail sales rose by 2.2% last month.
Analysts had expected a 3.0% advance.
The annual increase in September retail sales was revised up to 3.3% from an initial 3.0% advance.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, decreased by 0.4% in October, after falling 0.3% a month earlier.
Economists had expected a 0.1% increase.
Year-on-year, core retail sales rose 2.7% in October, compared to expectations for a 3.3% increase.
A month earlier, they registered a 3.6% advance which was revised up from an initial 3.2% rise.
“Retail sales slowed after a buoyant summer with the mild autumn hitting winter clothes sales,” ONS statistician Rhian Murphy said, noting that household goods sales also declined after two strong months of home improvement sales. “Consumers chose to purchase goods from many stores’ websites as online sales continued to increase,” Murphy noted.
Despite a fall in total retail sales spending, online sales as a total of all retailing increased to 18.0% from the 17.7% reported in September 2018, with textile, clothing and footwear stores continuing a record proportion of online sales at 18.2.