High street stores showed anaemic growth in the 2024 festive season, despite hopes that Christmas trading would inject some cheer into the sector.

Sales grew just 0.3 per cent overall in the ‘golden quarter’, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Online sales continued to beat in-store, with brick-and-mortar sales up just 0.4 per cent year-on-year in December, versus an 11.1 per cent rise online.

“Following a challenging year marked by weak consumer confidence and difficult economic conditions, the crucial ‘golden quarter’ failed to give 2024 the send-off retailers were hoping for,” Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the BRC, said.

Data from insolvency firm BDO suggested a more positive overall picture than the BRC, with total sales up two per cent versus BRC’s 0.3 per cent.

But it said high street sales growth was flat at just 0.1 per cent in the final three months of 2024.

“The struggling performance of high street stores is particularly notable, with essentially flat growth against last year’s very poor baseline, meaning that volumes were once again negative,” Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO said.

“After a challenging year, this low level of growth is a real concern for the retail sector,” she said.