UK online retail sales grew by 7% in January 2015 year-on-year, with the impact of Black Fridaydiscounts at the end of last year still being felt, according to the British e-commerce association
IMRG.While the January growth is far below IMRG and Capgemini forecast of 12% for this year, it comesoff the back of particularly low growth in December 2014 of just 5% year-on-year. The discountingaround Black Friday on 28 November focused huge volumes of sales activity on the final week ofNovember – the week commencing 23 November.
The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index in January illustrated the ripple effect of earlydiscounting during Black Friday. Thus, online sales of large ticket items in the electrical andhome & garden sectors, which saw the biggest discounts in November, both recorded a 9% droplast month on January 2014.
However, a more promising start to the year was observed in a number of other sectors, e.g. theclothing sector which saw a 14% year-on-year increase, thanks to the cold weather and theintroduction of many new lines. Accessories and footwear also surged with 40% and 20%respectively.
The travel sector experienced its highest increase since 2011 with online sales reaching 21%growth in January year-on-year and a spectacular monthly growth of 183% in December.
On average, British shoppers spent £81 per transaction in January. This is the highest averagebasket value seen in this month since January 2011.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, said: “The knock-on effect of Black Friday isclearly continuing to be seen for online retailers with the Index recording single-digit annualgrowth for the second consecutive month. Though the January growth rate seems low, this is directlyconnected to the record low increase of 5% seen in December. Interestingly, the average basketvalue of £81 is the highest we’ve seen during January in four years – suggesting that there wasless discounting this January as retailers shifted much of their stock over the Black Friday peak.”</p>
Alex Smith-Bingham, Head of Digital, Consumer Products and Retail at Capgemini, commented: “January’s Index shows that we have entered 2015 with steady growth in e-retail sales, with a shiftin spending to categories such as travel, which offered differentiated promotions in Januarycompared to previous months.”
“However, growth is being held back slightly by other categories, such as electrical and home& garden, which have seen sluggish sales since Black Friday. This suggests that the BlackFriday ‘hangover’ has continued into 2015, dampening the traditional sales spike in key, high valuecategories during the January sales,” he added.
