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A surge in spending on homeware and furniture helped boost transactions, which rose 1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis when compared to data from July 2008.
Wet weather and clearance sales contributed to the rise in sales, however growth in the food sector slowed due to lower levels of inflation, news that may interest those trading on the stock market.
Head of retail at KPMG Helen Dickinson noted that results for a year previously were very low, something that must be taken into consideration when analysing this year's data.
"The volatility of performance across the different sectors remains highlighting the current precarious nature of consumer demand," she stated.
In June, sales were up 1.2 per cent after declining by 0.9 per cent in May, according to information released last month by the Office for National Statistics.
