Support for Britain's high streets is on the rise as retail sales saw 1.8 per cent of growth in August compared to the same month last year.
According to the Retail Sales Monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, the majority of sectors (with the exception of food) saw growth in August.
During the same in 2012, retail sales declined by 0.4 per cent, as many people were more keen to stay in and watch the London 2012 Olympics than to go shopping.
Director general of the BRC Helen Dickinson said: "The category’s performances both in-store and online measure up well against below par showings in August 2012, when shopping took second place to watching the Olympics for many of us."
It is thought that the rise in retail sales demonstrates that, as well as not having major sporting events to distract them, consumers are becoming more confident about the economic outlook. As a result, they are more keen to spend on the high street.
Head of retail at KPMG David McCorquodale said: "This is a solid performance by retailers and demonstrates that confidence is slowly but surely returning to the UK’s high streets."
Rising consumer confidence could lead to increased investor confidence. Previously, many have been discouraged from buying into retail property as the high street due to constrained consumer spend.
But consumer confidence is not the only threat to the high street, statistics from BRC and KPMG show that online sales grew by 15 per cent compared to the same month last year. As a result, expect a rise in sales of warehouse units to cope with increasing shipping demands.