Online shoppers and Amazon Prime Day lift UK retail sales
by Julia Kollewe from on (#4NB56)
Small rise confounds City forecasts as even troubled department stores record increase
Online spending bolstered UK retail sales last month, while department stores notched up their first increase this year, as consumers shrugged off Brexit fears.
The quantity of goods bought rose 0.2% in July, buoyed by the annual Amazon Prime Day, according to the Office for National Statistics. The figures wrong-footed City economists who had expected a 0.2% decline.
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