UK consumers spent £5.46bn online in December
Friday, 22 January 2010
Online retail sales grew by 14% in 2009, with consumers spending £5.46bn in December alone.
According to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, UK online sales grew by 3.8% between November and December, with sales equivalent to every person in the UK spending £88.93 online in December.
Despite the online retail sector growing by 14% over the past year, September sales grew by just 7.6%, the lowest month in the history of the index. The report attributed the slower growth for the month to warmer than usual weather and postal strikes.
Jon Parry, principal retail consultant at Capgemini, said, “An interesting shift during this festive period is the strength of the monthly performance for multi-channel retailers [up 13%] versus their pure-play competitors [down 8%]. This shows both the high value consumers place on a multi-channel proposition, particularly when it comes to gift returns, and the trust advantage our high street brands have if they can get their online proposition right.”
Jonathon Brown, head of online selling at John Lewis Direct, said, “It’s worth noting that the launch of [John Lewis sale] Clearance online, from Christmas Eve, saw johnlewis.com take more than one order a minute in the first hour and continued to see strong sales throughout the festive period. We recorded our highest ever traffic day on Boxing Day.”
The IMRG and Capgemini predict online retail will grow 13% in 2010.
New media age 2010
