High street shops have again suffered a slump in sales.

For the second consecutive month, retailers such as Marks & Spencer, H&M, Gap, Thomas Cook, Tesco and Sainsbury’s combined to record an additional downturn.

To compound matters, economists have warned Chancellor George Osborne’s tough budget will result in further cuts to consumer spending.

In the latest monthly retail survey from market analyst CBI, figures fell by five per cent in June, well short analyst’s forecasts of positive 5 per cent growth. June spending continued the trend seen in May, where a surprisingly weak rate of -18% per cent was experienced. CBI did suggest that the World Cup would offer retailers a limited respite, as will the predicted spending rush on before the VAT hike in January, but that overall the retail growth outlook remains tepid.

The survey, polled respondents from May 29 to June 10, the beginning of the World Cup, revealed that the largest spending downturn in June was in leather goods and footwear, with hardware and DIY supplies also suffering. The areas that did show increased spending were around the football tournament in South Africa, with food, drinks and television sales all up.

Despite the poor results and gloomy forecast, retailers remain optimistic that a rebound will be seen in July, and many are relying on higher consumer spending in the second half of the year before the VAT is raised from 17.5 per cent up to 20 per cent in January. The British Retail Consortium, however, has warned that the rise will cause job losses and a rise in inflation.

One of the world’s leading retailers is forecasting a run on products in its international stores should those countries make the World Cup play-offs.

Wal-Mart operates in eight of the 32 nations that have made it to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, and is bracing itself for a boom if the national football team is successful.

Rick Bendel, the international chief marketing officer for Wal-Mart, said that revenue at outlets which had been in operation for a minimum of 12 months before the finals could anticipate a growth of between two and four per cent – with an additional one to two per cent expected if the national team makes the semi-finals.

Bendel said the tournament was a huge television event, and products associated with television such as TV sets, couches, food, drinks and memorabilia would all expect to sell heavily over the tournament. Bendel also suggested that in the UK Asda, which operates under the parentage of Wal-Mart, could benefit from extra revenue in the hundreds of millions of pounds.

FIFA have signed an exclusive agreement for World Cup merchandise with Wal-Mart through a subsidiary, leaving the retailer in the prime position of being able to capitalise on sales of items such as official footballs, beer mugs and plates.

Wal-Mart has stores in 14 countries outside of its US home, with Brazil, Argentina, Japan and Mexico all featuring at the World Cup, while the English team is sponsored by rival supermarket giant Tesco.

Anyone who has, of late, been pleasantly surprised to find themselves squeezing into a smaller dress size, may be disappointed. A new survey has discovered that deception is afoot with unwitting shoppers being deliberately deceived by a ‘vanity sizing’ ploy used by stores to flatter customers, in which clothes are deliberately made bigger to convince consumers they are buying smaller sizes.

A number of leading high street retail stores, including prominent labels Gap and Marks & Spencer, appear to have employed the deception as their measurements have become larger while the label size remains the same. The study also found a wide variance of sizes across stores dependent on the type of customer the target market is. For example, a Size 10 at Topshop – which is popular among younger women – is likely to be significantly smaller than the more mature aged Zara range.

Marks & Spencer claims that the patterns given to suppliers, or block sizes, have remained the same since 2003, but acknowledged that it had “tweaked” sizes on its website, with measurements increasing by two inches on occasion – equivalent to an extra size.

The study found that a test model, nominally a Size 14 under the British standard sizing chart, became a Size 12 at most high street stores and even a Size 10 at Marks & Spencer. The test further revealed that a Marks & Spencer Size 16 has grown from 38in around the bust, 31.5in around the waist and 41in around the hips back in 2003 to become 39.5-33-43 in 2010.