UK online retail sales up 13%

UK online retail sales were up 13% year-on-year (YoY) in March, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. Mobile-commerce (or “m-commerce”) helped to boost the figures and delivery options also played a part, as more online shoppers are enticed into hitting the free next-day delivery threshold.

According to Capgemini: “The continued positive growth for online retail sales appears to be being driven, at least in part, by higher average basket values (ABV) through mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) for both multichannel and online-only retailers – the total m-retail ABV was up +18% on March 2016, to mark the seventh straight month in which the ABV has risen YoY.”

Justin Opie, managing director, IMRG, added: “Over the past few years we have recorded very strong online retail sales growth through smartphone devices and it seems shoppers are getting more confident about checking out with higher baskets through these devices. The reasons for this are most likely related to better-performing mobile sites, with many retailers focusing on making the experience as convenient and straightforward as possible on these devices, but it will also no doubt be being influenced by next-day delivery – it has become fairly common for online retailers to offer next-day for free if the total spend is above a set threshold.”