Clothing and footwear sales through specalist clothing and footwear stores fell slightly by 0.6% in February 2016 to stand at its lowest level since October 2014, although this leaves the index still 7% higher than in 2012.
However, the latest figures show internet sales continued at a pace with the index showing a 1.2% rise in February. The value of sales via the internet now stands 47% greater for clothing and footwear stores than it was in 2012. Indeed, November 2015 in the run up to Christmas saw the value of internet sales the greatest it had been.
Figure 1: Retail and internet retail sales index for good brought via clothing and footwear stores (seasonally adjusted)
Source: Office for National Statistics