The British high street is bracing for a difficult autumn. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), total UK retail sales growth slowed to just 1.3% in September, down from 2.3% a year earlier, as households tightened their belts ahead of the government’s Autumn Budget. For the clothing and footwear sector \u2014 already sensitive to weather and discretionary spending \u2014 the month was particularly soft, and the numbers point to a consumer who is increasingly selective about where every pound goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BRC’s figures, covering the period from August 30 to October 3, came in below the 12-month average of 1.5%. Food sales rose 2.5%, but that was a deceleration from 4.3% in September 2025. Non-food sales managed only 0.3% year-on-year growth, compared with 0.7% a year earlier. Within non-food, in-store sales grew a marginal 0.1% while online rose 0.7%, with e-commerce now accounting for 38.3% of non-food purchases. The story behind the averages is one of caution: shoppers are prioritising essentials and postponing the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, framed the slowdown in plainly human terms. “Retail sales growth remained subdued in September as households are still cautious with their spending ahead of expected rises in household bills and taxes,” she said. The unseasonably warm weather did the apparel and footwear categories no favours either, depressing demand despite a lift from back-to-school shopping. When the season itself works against you and the macro backdrop is uncertain, even a modest gain is hard won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer, retail and leisure at KPMG, echoed the caution. “September’s retail sales figures point to an increasingly selective consumer,” she noted, describing a “battle for share of wallet” in which shoppers prioritise some categories while delaying others. That battle is precisely what footwear brands and retailers feel most acutely: a pair of shoes is rarely urgent, and when budgets are tight it is among the first purchases deferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah Bradbury, chief executive of IGD, added that consumer confidence had weakened amid rising fuel prices, planned energy increases and speculation about potential tax rises in the Budget. Confidence, once shaken, tends to stay shaken through the crucial fourth-quarter trading period \u2014 the make-or-break window for many footwear businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BRC used the data to press its case with the Treasury. It urged Chancellor John Healey to support retailers in the upcoming Budget, warning that higher business rates could add further pressure on prices, investment and employment. For an industry still absorbing cost increases from wages, energy and supply chains, another levy could be the difference between expansion and retrenchment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does this mean for footwear specifically? The sector sits squarely in the discretionary non-food bucket, and the warm-weather effect highlights how exposed it is to forces outside its control. Brands that can demonstrate value, durability and a reason to buy now \u2014 rather than later \u2014 will be best positioned. Others may find the next quarter a test of resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, the message from the data is clear: the UK consumer is not in retreat, but they are deliberate. Retailers who read the signal and adjust \u2014 on price, on range, on the timing of promotions \u2014 will navigate the Budget uncertainty far better than those who assume the old patterns still hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: World Footwear (worldfootwear.com)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UK retail sales growth eased to 1.3% in September as clothing and footwear posted a weak month; the BRC urges Budget support amid cautious consumer spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_georankopt_ai_score":53,"_georankopt_ai_analysis":null,"_georankopt_ai_recommendations":null,"_georankopt_focus_keyword":"","_georankopt_ai_last_analysis":"2026-10-21 08:12:23","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1766,1296,1765,1297,917,1767,1768,1764],"class_list":["post-3093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-autumn-budget","tag-british-retail-consortium","tag-clothing-and-footwear","tag-consumer-spending","tag-footwear-sales","tag-kpmg","tag-non-food-retail","tag-uk-retail-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3093"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3095,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3093\/revisions\/3095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galan.ltd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}