The latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealed that shoppers looking online for discounts and rewards spent £5bn in July, writes Internet Retailing.
A spending rise of 14% compared to June meant that Britons spent an average of £81 a month online as shoppers responded to sales promotion to find discounts and rewards online. The greatest year-on-year growth was seen in accessories with 64%, lingerie with 31%, gifts 26% and travel 18%. The growth in the travel sector was thought to be caused by a combination of bad weather and large holiday discounts.
A consistent trend is that of multichannel retailers performing better than online-only retailers with a growth rate of 18% compared to 8%. Similarly, multichannel retailers prove better at converting browsers into shoppers with a conversion rate of 4.49% compared to 4.35% for online-only retailers.
When asked for comment, Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, said that although online retail sales survived the recession more convincingly than high street sales, the last two years or so have been shaky at times. However, he is encouraged to see growth levels returning to those of pre-2007 and before the confidence of shoppers looking online for discounts and rewards was knocked by the financial crisis and recession.
David Smith, managing director of IMRG, added that with over half of the UK population online at least once a day it is no surprise that shoppers look for discounts and rewards online and sales continue to grow impressively year on year. He stated the evidence mounts that high street retailers will need to invest more in their online business and put it at the heart of their retail strategy. Online retailers, on the other hand, will need to continue to innovate as they strive to close the growth gap.
