Online sales in the UK grew 14 per cent in March, bucking the general drop in retail sales andreflecting the continued growth of e-commerce, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail
Sales Index.In March, British shoppers spent a total of £5.1 billion online, 14 per cent more than March2010 and equivalent to £82 per person, according to the index. This was in contrast to figuresshowing general retail sales suffered their worst drop for 15 years.
Significantly, the Index has seen 18 per cent growth during Q1 compared with the same periodlast year, which confirms it as the strongest first quarter performance in three years.
With the health and beauty sector (which includes perfume and make up) rocketing up 20 percent from February, and 32 per cent year-on-year, the Index revealed the impact that Mother’s Dayhad on online sales. Although March was not a particularly strong month for the gifts sector, itdid see a 55 per cent leap during the week before Mother’s Day.
Among the major physical goods sectors, clothing/footwear/accessories grew 23 per centyear-on-year, which was a 16 per cent rise on February sales levels. Electrical goods were 6 percent higher than 12 months previously but 8 per cent lower than February.
Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, commented: “March was asolid month for online retail; 14 per cent annual growth is a healthy result and quite a contrastto the reports from the high-street. The 18 per cent growth in the Index during Q1 is indicative ofa new trend. Consumers are indeed tightening belts, but they are still shopping, and have simplybecome more strategic in their buying habits.”
Tina Spooner, Director of Information at IMRG, added: “The Index reveals an encouragingperformance for the e-retail market during March and confirms that online continues to be thebeacon for the UK retail market during these tough economic conditions, with the high streetsuffering its worst drop in sales for 15 years during the same period. The 18 per cent annualgrowth recorded in the first quarter of 2011 is in line with our prediction for the year.
“IMRG’s recent online confidence survey revealed that over 70 per cent of UK retailers expectonline sales to remain healthy for the remainder of the year which, when combined with the solidgrowth recorded by the Index, indicates that the outlook for 2011 remains positive for the UKe-retail industry,” she added.
The ever-widening gap between multi-channel and online-only retailers continued to increasein March. Those with both a high-street and online presence witnessed a 19 per cent growth onaverage compared with March last year, while online experienced just 6 per cent growth.
Jonathan Brown, Head of Online Selling at John Lewis, said: “John Lewis online had anotherstrong month with sales up over 24 per cent with all product areas exceeding both 2010 sales, andour expectations. However it was interesting to see that whilst overall traffic saw slightly slowergrowth than we have been used to, customers who were on our website were converting at a higherrate, spending more each time they shopped with us.” The leading department store group had a 40per cent rise in online fashion sales last month and a 25 per cent increase for electrical and hometechnology goods.
The IMRG Capgemini Index, which was started in April 2000, covers data from about 100e-retailers, including leading retail chains.
