Britain's retail sales rebounded sharply in November, helped by heavy buying on 'Black Friday' when items are discounted in the run-up to Christmas, official data showed today.
Sales by volume grew by 1.7% last month compared with October, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
UK retail sales had dropped by 0.5% in October, the ONS said.
Although Black Friday spending in the UK was considered to be subdued this year, a number of major retailers including mobile phone retailer Dixons Carphone, John Lewis and Amazon all reported record sales.
Dixons Carphone hailed the one-day shopping bonanza as a "great start" to the Christmas season after it increased the number of Black Friday promotional deals by 30% compared to last year.
The ONS said average store prices, including petrol stations, were down 3.3% on November last year, the 17th consecutive month of year-on-year falls.
The amount spent in the retail industry increased by 1.4% compared with November last year, and by 1.4% compared with October.
The value of online sales increased by 12.7% on a year ago and by 4.9% compared with October.
However, despite the strong figures, analysts cautioned that UK retailers would be waiting until the end of the Christmas season before drawing firm conclusions.
