Tag: IMRG

Online spending in the January sales reached a record high of over GBP 4.5 billion according to new figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index An equivalent of GBP 74 was spent online for every person in the UK in January a year-on-year increase of 75 pct.

The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveals that there is variation in the year-on-year growth of individual sectors. Of the sectors that are broken out, the most popular items for online bargain hunters in January were electrical items and clothing which saw the highest year-on year growth. Perhaps a sign of festive excess was the small 9.8pct growth in the sales of beers, wines and spirits and the high 18pct online spending on Health and Beauty

The Index highlights that January’s high rate of growth is a change in direction from the previously falling trend – year-on-year sales in September was 73pct which fell to 66pct in November and then 49pct in December. The growth in sales volume over the last three months is more than double than the same period last year and is at the highest level since January 2003. While the overall e-Retail market is growing because of more retailers entering the online market, the high growth is still concentrated on the bigger players who are capturing the consumers’ hearts and minds

According to the Interactive Media In Retail Group (IMRG) and Capgemini co-authored report “e-Retail Sales Index” UK online shopping reached an all time high in the run up to Christmas, with GBP 15.2 spent online in October to December bringing the full year UK e-retail sales to GBP 46.6 billion, up 54pct on the GBP 30.2 billion recorded for 2006.

Within key sectors such as electrical goods, the research indicates that growth in online sales does come at the expense of high street retailers.

December’s e-retail sales were nearly 50pct higher than last year’s, although demand for online shopping tailed off significantly towards the end of 2007 with December’s Index only 0.2pct higher than November’s, reflecting the credit crunch across the UK economy.

The data, collated by IMRG and analysed by Capgemini’s consumer retail team, reveals that peak online shopping occurred in the first week of December where there was a 9pct increase in all online sales. This is later than in previous years, indicating that consumers are making the most of pre Christmas discounting and delaying purchases until the onset of the sales.

The final week of the year only saw a reduction in online sales of 4pct (compared with -22pct in the previous year) suggesting a tendency to go online to spend Christmas money and vouchers and hitting the online sales post Christmas rather than the high street sales.

Following the lead of US traders in 2006, several leading retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Dixons and Comet, ran online sales promotions on Christmas Day itself, attracting significant levels of business while the high street shops were shut. Four million people shopped online on Christmas Day 2007, spending an estimated GBP 84 million, an average of approximately GBP 21 each.