Source: Sharecast
Retail sales dipped 0.4% following a 0.7% rise the month before, and versus expectations for a smaller decline of 0.1%.
The ONS said online clothing retailers commented that the release of autumn and winter ranges in September did not perform well due to the unseasonably warm weather.
In the three months to September, sales were up 0.7% compared with the three months to June.
ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: "Retail sales grew in the latest quarter with growth led by motor fuel which, despite recent price increases at the pump, have now returned to monthly sales levels last seen before the start of the conflict in the Middle East.
"Food and drink sales also contributed to growth in the quarter, partly helped by the warm weather and the World Cup, although they fell back slightly in September."
Also on Friday, a survey from GfK showed that consumer confidence plunged in October to the greatest extent since the onset of the Covid pandemic.
GfK’s long-running consumer confidence index fell 11 points from September to -24, with all five confidence measures down. Excluding a 25-point slide at the onset of Covid, this marked the steepest fall since the Brexit vote in 2016.
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, an NIQ company, said: "The last time we saw an 11-point drop was in July 2016, following the Brexit vote. In recent years, only the onset of the Covid pandemic saw a larger fall (down 25 points)," he said. "While all measures are lower, the two largest decreases are in expectations for the wider UK economy in the coming year and the intention to make major purchases, both slumping by 14 points. With no single major economic event driving the decline, and with weakness seen across the full spectrum of income, age and gender demographic groups, these are damaging findings given the UK government’s priority of economic growth.
"Relentless cost-of-living pressures, against an international backdrop of unresolved regional conflicts that are themselves contributing to domestic inflation now at 3.5%, appear to have swept aside the nascent optimism we saw following the appointment of a new UK prime minister this summer. Headline consumer confidence is now back to the level seen in April, May and June of this year and the summer’s buoyant mood has evaporated. The speed of this deterioration is alarming."