Like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom were up just 0.1 percent on year in December, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.
That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent following the 0.4 percent contraction in November.
Overall retail sales gained 1.0 percent on year.
In the three months to December, sales were up 0.9 percent, including a 0.2 percent gain in food sales and a 1.5 percent increase in non-food sales.
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