Monthly retail sales volumes rose 0.2% after a 0.9% surge in June 2019, the Office for National Statistics said, beating the average forecast for a 0.2% decline from a Reuters poll of economists.
The data suggested consumers continued to take Brexit in their stride, helped by modest inflation and wages growing at their fastest rate in 11 years.
Online sales jumped 6.9% on the month, their biggest rise in volume since May 2016. Amazon held its annual Prime Day sales promotion in July, a major driver of sales for the company. However, household-goods stores reported their biggest monthly drop in sales in two years, down 5.4%.
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