The UK online retail sector generated strong growth in November exceeding monthly sales of £8billion for the first time while record sales are expected for the whole Christmas season this
year, according to the British online retail association IMRG.Monthly figures for November from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index indicate that UK onlineretail sales rose by 25% compared to October and by 18% year-on-year with British shoppers spending£8.4 billion online last month. This is the first time since the launch of the Index in 2000 thatsales for a single month have topped the £8 billion mark.
The product categories benefitting the most from the ongoing Christmas shopping included health& beauty with an 82% increase in November compared to October. This was even surpassed by the132% month-on-month growth for the gifts sector, the highest in almost five years, which has alsorecorded a solid year-on-year growth of 38%.
The British clothing sector also improved the 12% increase seen in October to 20% in November,the strongest annual growth recorded for the sector in 2012, boosted by promotional activity aheadof the holiday period. The temperatures dropping across the UK in November gave an additional boostto online sales as many of the British citizens preferred to shop online from home.
Like in October, sales via mobile devices have continued to rise at a remarkable pace, with 309%year-on-year growth in November with the conversion rate reaching its highest ever value of 2.1% inNovember. IMRG explained that this reflects the increasing consumer confidence in completing theshopping experience on mobile devices as their usability for retail has been improvedconsiderably.
Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, said: “These results areparticularly strong and give a clear indication of what we can expect to see during the peakshopping weeks in December. E-retail continues to be the growth engine of an otherwise strugglingretail sector and as online spending exceeds the £8 billion in one month, we can see just howintegral the online and mobile channels have become to the shopping experience.”
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, commented: “The robust Index performance inNovember is a clear indicator that festive shoppers are using the internet more than ever before inthe run up to Christmas. With an increasing number of online retailers offering next-day deliveryservices, click & collect and later last order dates for guaranteed delivery before ChristmasDay, even last-minute shoppers can enjoy peace of mind when buying their festive gifts online.”
Meanwhile, IMRG predicts this year’s Christmas to be the biggest and busiest ever for onlineretailers in the UK with more than 126 million visits to UK retail websites and £472.5 millionsales to be generated during the Boxing Day on 26 December. This would equal a 50% rise in onlinetraffic as heavy discounts are used to clear out remaining stock. It is expected to be the busiestonline shopping day in the UK after Cyber Monday. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are alsopredicted to be big online spending days with consumers expected to spend £225 million and £307million respectively during these days.
Last year December was a record-breaking month in terms of online retail as UK consumers made2.18 billion visits to retail websites with 96.2 million visits on the Boxing Day alone, up 19.5%year-on-year.
Andrew McClelland, Managing Director at IMRG, commented: “The post-Christmas sales periodactually starts on Christmas Eve online and, judging by these forecasts, it certainly finds awilling audience. Accessing retailer websites through always-on devices such as smartphones andtablets provides consumers with an easy way to check about returning a gift, or download digitalcontent directly onto that device. Indeed, retailers have been telling us that tablet devices areamong the biggest sellers this year. As consumers encounter a range of discounts and offers alreadyavailable in the sales on these sites, it is not surprising that consumers will spend over £300million even on Christmas Day itself this year; online, the Christmas shopping never reallystops.”
