Sales volumes for Britain's independent retailers in the past 12 months were 20% higher than the global average, according to data from retail management software leader Vend. This insight comes from Vend's first Retail Benchmarks Report , which compared data from over 13,000 retailers.

Average monthly sales volumes per store in the UK were 32% higher than North America, and 15% higher than in Australia.

However, Vend's data also found that UK retailers' average monthly revenue was 15% lower than the global average and their average transaction values were 28% lower.

"We know that Britain's brick-and-mortar stores are competing with online players and large-scale retailers, plus navigating constant changes to shopper expectations. So it's really positive to see such strong sales volumes compared to other key markets," says Higor Torchia, Vend Country Manager for the UK. "While UK shoppers may not be spending quite as much as consumers elsewhere, they are clearly still choosing to shop with independent stores, which is a testament to the unique products and experiences local retailers are providing."

Interestingly, furniture stores saw 48% more gross revenue than the UK average and shoe stores had revenues 40% higher than average. Cosmetics and beauty stores, and specialty food stores on the other hand had 48% less monthly revenue than the UK average. This was despite speciality food stores having the highest average basket size of all the UK's retail stores (3.86 items per shopper), and shoe stores having the lowest (1.45 items).

"Our data also shows that UK retailers are potentially missing out on repeat business and are yet to make full use of customer loyalty. Only 56% of retailers have loyalty enabled in their Vend POS system. And the number of customers stored in their databases is also 26% lower than the global average. So there's definitely more our local retailers could be doing to grow their sales and repeat business," says Higor.

This data has been analysed by Vend as part of its first-ever Retail Benchmarks Report - a global report looking at the state of retail across key markets and sectors. You can read the full report here.