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What the BRC Shop Price Monitor measures
The BRC describes its Shop Price Monitor as a proxy for the direction of price changes in retail outlets, rather than a complete measure of household inflation. Nielsen administers and analyses the data for the BRC. The monitor was launched to provide an inflation picture for 500 commonly bought high-street products. Its methodology sets out how the sample and weights are constructed.
Each month, prices are collected in the same stores across five large urban areas spread nationally. The sample spans different locations and outlet types, including out-of-town superstores, department stores, local parades and shopping centres, and includes both multiple retailers and independent stores. The BRC methodology reports around 6,500–7,000 price points per period.
The monitor covers seven main purchase sectors: food; DIY, gardening and hardware; furniture, books, stationery and home entertainment; electrical; clothing and footwear; and other non-food. Product classes receive individual weights based on all-household expenditure in the Family Expenditure Survey. That makes the result a weighted view of sampled shop goods, not a simple average of every price collected.
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What ONS CPI measures
ONS defines CPI as an average measure of price changes for goods and services bought for consumption within the UK by UK households and foreign visitors. Its reference population also includes residents of communal establishments such as university halls and care homes. Spending by UK households abroad is excluded. Since CPI covers consumption rather than only goods sold in shops, its scope includes services as well as physical products. It excludes owner-occupier housing costs and Council Tax.
The ONS Consumer Price Inflation Quality and Methodology Information, revised 25 March 2026, describes CPI and CPIH as annually chain-linked, fixed-quantity indices within each year, using around 760 representative items. ONS updates the representative basket annually. Since March 2026, some grocery retailers’ point-of-sale scanner data have also been used. CPI is therefore not simply a small survey of shop products.
CPI and CPIH are not the same measure
CPIH covers CPI’s consumption scope and adds owner-occupier housing costs and Council Tax. ONS describes CPIH as its lead, more comprehensive consumer-inflation measure. CPI is still published and is the measure used for the government’s inflation target. The distinctions in coverage are explained in ONS’s methodology information.
How the measures compare
| Aspect | BRC Shop Price Monitor | ONS CPI |
|---|---|---|
| What it describes | Price movements in a focused sample of retail goods; the BRC calls it a proxy measure. | Average price changes across a broad basket of household consumption goods and services. |
| Coverage | 500 commonly bought items across seven retail purchase sectors, sampled in selected shops in five large urban areas. | Around 760 representative items in the CPIH/CPI methodology, covering household consumption rather than shop goods alone. |
| Price data | Around 6,500–7,000 price points per period, according to BRC methodology. | Monthly index; since March 2026, some grocery retailers’ point-of-sale scanner data are included. |
| Population and weighting | Product-class weights based on all-household Family Expenditure Survey spending. | Weights reflect household consumption. The reference population includes UK households, visitors to the UK and communal-establishment residents. |
| Housing costs and Council Tax | A retail-goods indicator, not a household-wide cost-of-living measure. | Excluded from CPI; included in CPIH. |
| Collection frequency | Monthly data collection. | Monthly index. |
Why BRC shop-price inflation can differ from CPI
The two rates can move differently because they cover different things and use different samples and weighting arrangements. A change in the price of a service, for example, can affect CPI but is outside the BRC monitor’s shop-goods focus. Even for goods that overlap, the selected retailers, product classes and expenditure weights are not identical. A headline rate from one measure is not a direct check on the other.
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Neither figure is an individual household’s personal inflation rate. A household that spends more or less than the reference baskets on particular goods, services or housing costs may experience a different change in its own expenses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A dated example: BRC results for August 2026
The latest detailed ungated BRC release reviewed here covers 1–7 August 2026. It reported shop-price inflation of 1.5% year on year, with food inflation at 2.8% and non-food inflation at 0.9%. Within food, fresh-food inflation was 3.0% and ambient-food inflation was 2.5%. These are BRC Shop Price Monitor results for August 2026, not CPI rates.
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BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said of the results: “Shop price inflation rose to its highest level in over two years, albeit well below the headline Consumer Price Index.” That is the BRC’s interpretation of its release; it does not make the two measures directly comparable. Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NIQ, commented that the increases were not unexpected as some summer promotional activity ended, and said retailers continued to keep prices low to help consumers manage household costs such as energy and fuel. These are attributed comments accompanying the release, not additional components of the index.
The BRC site lists a 29 September 2026 member-access report titled “Retailers keep prices low despite rising cost pressures,” but its detailed figures could not be verified from the linked page. August’s figures should therefore be treated as an example from the latest detailed ungated release reviewed, not as the latest BRC release overall.
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How to read a shop-price inflation headline
- Check whether “shop price inflation” refers to the BRC Shop Price Monitor and note the reference month.
- Read the rate as a signal about the monitor’s sampled retail goods, not every item a household buys.
- Before comparing it with CPI, account for CPI’s wider coverage of goods and services, different population and weighting approach, and CPI’s exclusion of housing costs and Council Tax.
- If the comparison is about housing costs or Council Tax, distinguish CPI from CPIH.
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