UK e-retail delivery volumes recovered in June with double-digit year-on-year growth after an unexpected slowdown in May, probably due to unsteady weather and the political and economic uncertainty surrounding the general election, according to the British e-commerce association IMRG.
Last month, online order volumes went up 22% compared to June 2014, which is the highest growth rate so far this year. This brings the cumulative growth for the first six months of 2015 to 11.4%, the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index has shown. “June’s growth bucks the usual seasonal trend as we usually see a slight decline at this time of year,” IMRG explained.
The reasons for the June upturn are likely to be the settled summer weather, post-election recovery in consumer confidence and spending as well as additional promotional activities by retailers trying to stimulate sales following a relatively slow start to the year.
Last month’s delivery figures were also in line with the online sales revenues which recorded the highest growth for the year so far in June with 18%.
The on-time or attempted delivery rate was also high at 94.5% as well as the average value of orders.
Andrew Starkey, head of e-logistics at IMRG, said: “After the slowdown we saw last month, it is good to see the UK’s online retail sector back on the upswing. If this trend continues we will soon approach our start of year forecast of 13%. July usually delivers a mini-peak on the back of summer spending which should push us even closer to this figure.”
Kees de Vos, chief product and marketing officer at MetaPack, added: “The general election certainly seems to have had an impact on consumer confidence so it is reassuring to see that online retail sales have picked up strongly in the interim and we are heading towards a strong summer sales period. Growth is also underpinned by the continuing breadth of delivery options being offered by retailers and delivered efficiently and expediently.”
