Retail sales rise thanks to Easter trading

Food sales growth picked up strongly towards the end of the month, helped by Good Friday and Easter Saturday falling in the March trading period this year, but in April last year, Talking Retail reports.

Traditional areas of Easter spending such as fresh fish did well.

Stephen Robertson, director general, BRC, said: "These are strong figures – the best total sales growth since April 2006, but they would have been only half as good without the distorting effect of Easter.”

He told the news source that food sales received a big boost from Easter falling a week earlier than last year. The overall figures were also helped by the comparison with last year's very weak performance.

"In food and drink, this was the most intense March for eight years for promotional activity. Non-food is also a competitive battleground as retailers fight it out to entice customers being put off spending by pre-election uncertainty," he said.