Online retail sees highest growth this year - July sales boosted by unpredictable weather and the Olympics
Online sales have experienced their highest growth this year according to figures released by the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail sales index. A record 17 per cent jump in sales was measured boosted by the unpredictable summer weather and the Olympics.
This equates to an estimated £6.5 billion online spend (an average of £128 per person), which is a significant rise on the £5.8 billion spend registered for this time last year. Total growth for the year to date stands at 13 per cent – in line with previous forecasts.
Spells of wet weather and the Olympics helped boost sales in the electrical market by 30 per cent on July 2011. It is thought more Brits went online to purchase high definition televisions and other electricals to guarantee the best seat in the house for the Games, the wet weather also saw a rise in demand for 'indoor entertainment'. Emma McLaughlin, Head of Online Marketing at John Lewis commented: “Our electricals business continues to be boosted by sales of Apple technologies, from iPads to notebooks and beyond.
“We had stand-out performances from sales of tablets. This helped our electricals business to move forward by over 57 per cent on the same month last year.”
Clothing sales were helped by summer prices cuts and new autumn lines hitting the shelves in July. The market made a welcomed return to double figure growth in July, up 18 per cent on June 2012 and 15 per cent on July last year. McLaughlin added: “In fashion - despite the weather continuing to be a challenge - the directorate came in +43 per cent compared to last year with strong sales coming from womenswear and accessories, in particular handbags and shoes. Popular brands this month included Phase Eight, Mulberry, LK Bennett, Hobbs and Dune.”
Travel was also up 12 per cent, recovering from a relatively sluggish performance in July 2011 when the sector was down 1 per cent year-on-year. Average basket value came in at £1,050 breaking the £1,000 barrier for the second time this year.
m-Retail sales also experienced huge growth in July, recording a 313 per cent increase on the same time last year. Whilst very strong, this does fall short on the year-on-year growth experienced in May and June 2012 where sales were up 360 per cent and 356 per cent respectively. Online-only and catalogue retailers also reported a year-on-year growth of 19.5 per cent in July, surpassing their multichannel counterparts for the seventh consecutive month.
Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini says: “The return to such high growth will be welcomed by online retailers. While we won’t know the direct impact the Olympics has had on the sector until next month, the excitement and build up to the Games certainly contributed to July’s strong performance.”
Chief information officer at IMRG, Tina Spooner, added: “July saw the strongest Index performance year-to-date in terms of annual growth, with sales peaking during the second week of the month when many retailers launched their summer sales.
“The rapid growth in m-retail sales is clearly being driven by a change in consumers’ shopping behaviour and how and when they engage with brands. Retailers that focus on optimising their websites for this new breed of shopper will, no doubt reap the benefits of their investment.”
See table below for July sales figures:
