Deep discounting helped to stem shop price inflation in April, according to new data released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ in its latest monitor.

For the period covering 01 – 07 Apr 2026, its figures showed that shop prices decreased to 1% year-on-year, against growth of 1.2% last month and dipping below the 3-month average of 1.1%.

Non-food inflation decreased to -0.1% for the same period, falling by 0.2 percentage points month-on-month, while food inflation decreased to 3.1%, down by 0.3 percentage points since March.

“Bigger discounts in clothing, furniture and DIY goods helped pull down shop price inflation in April,” commented Helen Dickinson, Chief Exec of the BRC. “With weakening consumer confidence, retailers competed harder on price to stimulate more Spring spending.”

However, she warned that the “full force” of the Middle East conflict has yet to feed into consumer prices, suggesting “it will not be long before it begins to.”

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, NIQ, said that higher fuel prices were “already leading to higher inflation”, predicting that a similar impact will be felt on food and non-food supply chains in the months to come.

However, he added that “retailers will look to hold back any price increases as long as possible as, alongside fragile consumer confidence, accelerating inflation is likely to negatively affect consumer spending.”

Separate data from Parcelhero, also released this morning, suggests online retail sales also held up in March, rising +10.5% year-on-year, in spite of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. However Parcelhero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T. questioned whether the “surprisingly strong set of retail results” for March would be sustained in to April as the ramifications of the conflict continue.