New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the volume of retail sales fell by 1% in August when compared with July, while they rose by 3.9% on an annual basis.
The CSO said the monthly decline was mainly driven by a drop in car sales, which slowed by 3.6% after their seasonal mid-year peak in July.
However the sector significantly surpassed the previous year's performance in August with a 9.8% annual volume increase, the CSO added.
Today's figures also show that sales in Department Stores fell by 4.3% from July, while sales of furniture and lighting were down 3.4%.
The CSO said monthly volume increases were recorded in Other Retail Sales - including sales of carpets, games and toys, flowers, plants, jewellery and pet food - which rose by 1.1%, while sales of pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles inched 0.3% higher, and sales of hardware, paints and glass saw a similar increase.
On an annual basis, today's figures reveal that the highest annual volume growth was recorded in Motor Trades, which jumped by 9.8%, while sales of hardware, paints and glass were up 7.8% and Other Retail Sales increased by 6.6%.
The sectors with the biggest annual volume declines were Department Stores, which sank by 8.7%, while sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores were down 3.3% and sales of clothing, footwear and textiles dropped by 3.1%.
The value of retail sales was 0.3% lower in August than in July and was up by 4.9% when compared with August of last year.
Today's figures also show that the proportion of retail sales transacted online - from Irish registered companies - was 5.2% in both August and July, compared with 4.7% in August last year.
