British online sales maintained strong growth in May with a year-on-year increase of 17% to £8.2billion, boosted by sunny weather and football fever, according to the latest monthly IMRG
Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index for May 2014.Excluding travel, e-sales soared by an impressive 20% last month as British online shoppersspent money on new clothes and electrical items to prepare for the World Cup in Brazil.
As a result, the electrical sector showed a 19% increase in May. Based on previous figuresduring major summer football tournaments, IMRG and Capgemini expect an even stronger sales increaseof 30% in June. The previous World Cup in 2010 and the European Championships in 2012 resulted inincreases of 26% and 35% respectively as football fans upgraded their TVs to watch their teams.
The clothing sector showed the same strong growth of 19% in May as the dry and warm weatherduring the second half of the month brought online shoppers in front of their screens to buy newclothes. Accessories recorded particularly strong year-on-year growth of 30%.
The gardening sector also experienced a pre-summer boom with sales going up 20% in May asBritons got ready for barbecues and garden parties.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer, IMRG, commented: “Once again, the UK online retailmarket recorded solid annual growth last month, and excluding travel sales, the impressive 20%year-on-year performance is well ahead of our 2014 growth forecast. Consumers are also spendingmore when shopping online with the average basket value in May reaching £88, the highest levelrecorded in two years.”
“As with all major sporting events, retailers are gearing up for the World Cup and over thecoming weeks, we expect to see a surge in sales of televisions and home entertainment systems asfootball fans hope to see England progress to the final stages of the competition from the comfortof their own homes.”
Chris Webster, VP, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini, added that the indexcontinues to reflect the ongoing consumer confidence in the country’s economy and shows the stronginfluence big sports events can have on the retail sector, and World Cup in particular. “Just howlong that growth continues may well depend on how far England progresses through the tournament aspatriotic fans invest in bigger and better TVs to cheer on their team.”
The British e-commerce association expects 17% growth in the country’s online sales this year asa whole.
