Online sales in Britain continued strong double-digit growth in October this year with ayear-on-year increase of 15% and recorded the highest e-retail conversion rate since November 2012,
according to the latest monthly IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.The sales increase in October follows strong growth rates in August and September of 18% and 20%year-on-year respectively. The Index has recorded 16% growth in online sales year to date in 2013,compared to 13% during the same time last year, the British e-commerce association IMRG said.
The conversion rates for the e-retail sector as a whole also continue to rise with 4.7% inOctober surpassing the conversion rate of 4.6% during the six month period between May and Octoberwhich in turn is considerably higher than 3.9% during the same period in 2012.
Chris Webster, VP, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini, said: “It’s great tosee that m-commerce conversions are slowly increasing, but it’s important to note that conversionrates are still higher for laptops and PCs. Whilst tablet devices are used for sofa surfing infront of the TV and browsing on our smartphones is a perfect way of making use of the dailycommute, when it comes to serious shopping, many of us still prefer the PC experience.”
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, added: “The month-on-month growth betweenSeptember and October was actually far lower than is usual, at just 0.5% compared with the rate of4-8% we have seen over the past 5 years. However, this is following the strongest online salesgrowth recorded between August and September in 13 years. Coming off the back of a strongcomparator last October, the performance is still strong and bodes well for a positive Christmasfor online retail.”
Due to the mild weather which was rather unusual for the season, the clothing sector in Octobersaw its weakest performance in 2013 with an increase of just 9.6%, down 4% on the previous month.Despite the slowdown, the clothing sector remains promising for 2013, with 17% year-to-dategrowth.
The electrical sector experienced a major boost in online sales in October, partly thanks to therelease of major consumer technology products such as the new iPhone 5 and budget tablet devicesintroduced by high-street retailers including Tesco’s Hudl and the Argos MyTablet.
