Homeware sales remained in negative territory on the high street while footfall saw double digit growth.

According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose by 5.02% for the week ending 4 December 2022.

Homeware total LFLs were down by 5.55% from a base of +7.22% for the same week last year, indicative of the category’s second consecutive and its fifteenth for this year.

Instore homeware sales flattened by 0.76% from a base of +17.80% for the same week last year, signalling its first negative since the last week of September.

Total in-store LFL sales rose by +5.76%, from a base of +54.00% for the same week last year. Total non-store LFL sales increased by +4.17% from a base of -3.07% for the same week last year.

Commenting on the results, BDO said: “Although Cyber Monday took place this week, lifestyle and homewares total LFLs were pulled down by weak non-store results while the latter also saw in-store LFL sales slip into the red following nine straight weeks of positive growth.

“This week saw frosty weather with temperatures dropping lower than 0°C as well as widespread fog and mistiness across many parts of the UK. The same week last year saw very cold conditions alongside overcast and interspersed showers.”

Overall footfall climbed by +8.7% this week compared to the equivalent week last year. The high street saw double digit growth in footfall this week, increasing by +14.3%, while footfall to rose by +5.5% in shopping centres and +0.3% in retail parks.