UK online retail sales recovered in April coming back to double-digit growth of 13% following an unprecedented four months of single-digit growth and first-ever quarterly single-digit growth of 7% in Q1 2015, according to the British e-commerce association IMRG.
Last month, British e-retail sales grew by 13%, with 4% month-on-month growth which is the highest for the month of April since 2007. This relatively high monthly growth marks a shift in the usual established trend of flat monthly growth between March and April, the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealed. “Online shoppers were apparently unaffected by the huge uncertainty around who would win the general election in the UK,” IMRG explained.
April also saw the highest conversion rate yet in 2015 of 4.6%. Alex Smith-Bingham, Head of Digital, Consumer Products and Retail, Capgemini, commented on the April figures: “The figures show a return to form for online retail. Shoppers are clearly more confident than ever and in the run up to the general election were feeling upbeat about their prospects for the future. The fact that conversion rates were so high goes to show that people weren’t just window shopping – they were going online ready to spend. With the economy continuing to improve I’m confident that online retail is on the up.”
Improvements in average temperatures seem to have boosted the clothing sector which showed 15% growth in April – its best performance in 2015 so far. The travel sector which already showed a particularly strong growth in Q1 2015 of 19% continued to perform well in April – up 20% year-on-year – as Britons started to book their summer holidays.
Sales via mobile devices continued to drive the overall online sales growth in April, with a spectacular year-on-year increase of 52%. In a monthly comparison to March, growth amounted to 8%.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, said: “The return to double-digit growth during April has resulted in overall growth of 9% year-to-date for the UK online retail market. Although this is still below our 2015 growth forecast of 12%, a number of sectors continue to outperform the total market including footwear, lingerie and accessories. The latest results also reveal that online browsers converted at the highest rate for April since 2009 – helping to fuel the 3.9% month-on-month rise between March and April, where the established trend is for flat growth.”
As a possible explanation for the slowdown in e-retail growth during Q1 2015, a separate IMRG survey revealed a number of factors that UK retailers believe were influential for this development. They cited market maturity, increased competition, less discounting resulting in consumers holding out for sales and promotions and also political and economic uncertainty. “However, it is too early to say whether the single-digit growth recorded during Q1 was merely a blip and we will be monitoring developments very closely over the coming months,” Spooner said.
Last month, the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index celebrated its 15-year anniversary, after being launched in April 2000. Over that period, online sales have rocketed by 11,000%, with an estimated £640 billion spent online over its lifetime.
