Capgemini IMRG eRetail Sales Index: Shoppers spending more on average online than ever in 2018

Despite the UK being hit by freak cold weather moving into Spring, online retail grew by +15.3% (YoY) between January and March, with the reduced high street footfall driving shoppers to home spending. However as the weather picked up and the UK experienced some unseasonably hot weather in April, online retail sales went from strength-to-strength, with a +18.2% (YoY) growth between April and June.

Some sectors appeared to particularly benefit from the unpredictable weather. Garden enjoyed a YoY growth of +24.9% overall, its strongest first half since 2014, with a +33.7% growth in the warm months of April – June. Clothing has enjoyed consistent growth during the year so far, recording +16.3% growth (YoY) in Q1 and +17.8% (YoY) in Q2 for an average of +17.1%. Health & Beauty experienced its best growth during the wintry months of Q1, with +18.6% growth (YoY). It was also strong during Q2 (+16.8% YoY) to give it an overall growth of +17.7% (YoY) for 2018 so far (Jan-Jun).

Despite the impressive growth of online retail, conversion rates for online retailers actually decreased overall every month other than May. This could be accredited to the continued trend of online shopping via smartphone devices, which are accounting for a larger share of total online sales but feature lower (albeit increasing) conversion rates. Indeed, spending via smartphone devices was up +39% against last year during Q2, although growth rates are inevitably starting to slow as this channel reaches maturity.

Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG: “The performance for online sales in the first half of the year has been a lot stronger than anticipated. There are a number of factors that may be influencing that – the extreme weather events (both hot and cold), the Royal Wedding, World Cup etc – and it might be possible that the feelgood elements associated with some of those events has encouraged people to spend a bit beyond their means.

“This could mean that we see a pinch on shopper spend as we move through Q3 – though the weather in July has been incredibly hot – which may lead to an imbalance in online retail growth between the first and second halves of the year.”

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini: “The year started with a lot of doom and gloom and uncertainty around retail.  What has been encouraging is how well online retail has performed in H1, particularly in seasonal categories like Clothing and Garden.  These two sectors have delivered higher basket values (+38.0% and + 19.6% YoY respectively), with consumers becoming impulsive in their purchases as they refreshed summer wardrobes and prepared for more time spent outside.

“Despite that online-only retailers outperformed multichannel retailers during most of H1, with average growth at +18.6% and +14.7% respectively, multichannel actually closed the gap on last year’s YOY growth. Basket value growth was also stronger for multichannel retailers, with a +4% (YoY) increase in average basket value to £100.77, compared to only +2% (YoY) for online only retailers at £87.77.  It demonstrates the continued importance of an omnichannel presence for retailers – a focus on connected retail will help ensure that the ecommerce sales performance outlasts the good weather.”

ENDS

About the ‘IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index’

The IMRG Capgemini Index, which was started in April 2000, tracks ‘online sales’, which we define as ‘transactions completed fully, including payment, via interactive channels’ from any location, including in-store.

About IMRG

For over 20 years, IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) has been the voice of e-retail in the UK. We are a membership community comprising businesses of all sizes – multichannel and pureplay, SME and multinational, and solution providers to industry. We support our members through a range of activities – including market tracking and insight, benchmarking and best practice sharing. Our indexes provide in-depth intelligence on online sales, mobile sales, delivery trends and over 40 additional KPIs. Our goal is to ensure our members have the information and resources they need to succeed in rapidly-evolving markets – both domestically and internationally. www.imrg.org

About Capgemini

A global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, Capgemini is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients’ opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms. Building on its strong 50-year heritage and deep industry-specific expertise, Capgemini enables organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from strategy to operations. Capgemini is driven by the conviction that the business value of technology comes from and through people. It is a multicultural company of 200,000 team members in over 40 countries. The Group reported 2017 global revenues of EUR 12.8 billion.

Learn more about us at www.capgemini.com.

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