Aug 17, 2016
2 minutes
UK online sales see highest growth in 20 months
Aug 17, 2016
Heavy discounting and warm weather encouraged online shoppers to splash out in July, according to the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index.
Online sales grew in July by 19% year-on-year, recording a 20-month high for the index and continuing a stronger-than-expected 2016 for online retail.
Despite the growth, the average basket value of goods purchased online fell from £80.52 in June 2016 to £78.39 a month later due to bargain offers. The discounting was influenced in part by a need to compete with Amazon Prime Day, which was held on 12 July, said IMRG.
On the day, orders on Amazon surpassed Prime Day 2016 by more than 60% worldwide.
In a warmer-than-average July consumers headed online to renew their summer wardrobes. The overall clothing sector grew 22%, while sub-sectors including accessories, footwear, lingerie and womenswear grew by 33%, 24%, 31% and 21% respectively.
The home sector over 50% year-on-year, while the garden sector jumped by 39%. The only sector to decline was beers, wines and spirits, which fell by a marginal -1%.
Bhavesh Unadkat, Management Consultant in Retail Customer Engagement Design, Capgemini: “It's great to see that the Index registered such a strong July performance – the biggest growth since November 2014. Impressive sales from the multichannel retailers saw them drive growth and undoubtedly helped the month’s figures. Indeed, many of these retailers had reactive plans in place to match the discounts offered by Amazon Prime Day, which goes some way to explaining the drop in basket value. These low prices spurred high volume sales which ensured double digit growth.”
Multichannel retailers reported online sales growth of 19%, while online-only retailers grew by 18%.
“Year-to-date, UK online sales growth is ahead of forecast at +15% year-on-year (forecast was for +11%) but, while we anticipate seeing double-digit growth continue during August due to a weak performance for the same month last year, 2016 is proving to be a tough one to predict – particularly given the referendum result and the fact we have yet to record any significant impact from it in the Index so far, while some other economic indicators have already revealed some degree of impact” said Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG.
The IMRG Capgemini Index tracks 'online sales', defined as transactions completed fully, including payment, via interactive channels from any location, including in-store. The data is provided by over 100 e-tailers, including Arcadia Group, Boden, Jack Wills, The Body Shop and The White Company.
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