IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index: Warm weather in April gives online travel sector a boost

The Travel sector in particular saw a solid performance, increasing 16% year-on-year. This is the first time the sector has seen growth between March and April (up 2%) since the Index first recorded online travel sales in 2009.

Beer, wine and spirits was another well performing sector, which saw a 19% increase on online sales compared to April last year, and a monthly growth of 18%.  This follows a poor performance in Q1 with growth of just 3%.

Electricals took a hit for the first time since July 2011, down 3% year-on-year, with the average basket value at £167. This disappointing performance comes off the back of a very strong April 2012, which saw the launch of the iPad 3, the sale of which created a ‘Halo’ effect on the wider sector, spurring shoppers to splash out on other electrical goods. The same period this year, has not experienced the release of any highly anticipated consumer electronics.  

The figures reveal a continuing trend between online-only retailers and those who have both an online and physical presence on the high-street. Online retailers saw growth of 20% year-on-year in April, while multichannel recorded 14%. Similar to what happened in 2012, the performance of online and multichannel retailers converged during the Christmas period, but have since diverged with online outperforming their multichannel counterparts. This suggests that shoppers are becoming more confident in the internet as a transaction medium, and a result of the increased adoption of new technologies and services (mobile devices, social media etc.) introduced by online only retailers.

The M-Commerce Index revealed that growth in sales via mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) is slowing, from 243% year-on-year in March to 131% (excluding travel) in April. However, a slowdown in growth is natural as the use of m-retail and mobile technology becomes more widespread.

Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG: “Now that the green shoots of economic recovery have arrived with a (now distant) spell of sunshine, the momentum of online shopping in Q2 is even more evident. The solid Index performance in April is ahead of our 12% e-retail growth forecast for 2013, resulting in average growth of 15% year-to-date.  We expect UK.com to continue to dominate the retail picture as the recovery gathers greater momentum.”

Chris Webster, VP, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini: “April’s results revealed the influence the shift in temperature and school holidays can have one the retail sector. With the holiday period falling at the start of April and warm weather following in the second half, we have seen uplifts in holidays, home & garden, alcohol and apparel driving the Index. Perhaps, we should have some faith that families do come together at holiday times to discuss their future holiday plans.

“Although sales via mobile devices are slowing, the sector continues to grow as retailers invest in the technology to personalise the shopping experience. A rise in conversion rates suggests that consumers are using mobile devices to research and purchase goods online while on the move.”

Industry View:
Oliver Ripley, Mobile Product Manager, eCommera comments: “The growth of m-commerce continues unabated with a 131% year on year growth recorded on non-travel related services and a 172% growth when travel related services are included. From this, it is easy to see therefore that travel mobile commerce is currently growing at 41% year on year.

“Travel remains one of the key growth areas for mobile commerce as, by definition, travellers are away from home when abroad yet still want to have access to services that not only allow them to plan trips but also to help them enjoy their destinations. Frequently the mobile device is their sole access to the internet during a trip and is therefore crucial in delivering services that help them enjoy their time abroad. Travel related retailers should now think about what travel mobile services they can deliver to take advantage of the growth in travel m-commerce.”

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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.  
Over one hundred e-retailers now regularly contribute data to the IMRG Capgemini Index, including A. Hume Country Clothing, Addict, Airport Parking & Hotels Ltd, Amara, Arcadia Group (Burton, Top Man, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Wallis, Miss Selfridge), Ask Direct, ASOS.com, B&Q, Bank, Berry Bros & Rudd,  Binends.com, Blacks, Boden.co.uk, Boohoo.com, Boots Direct, Boutique to You, Brandosa.co.uk, Brora, Buyagift.com, BuyItDirect.co.uk, Carphone Warehouse, Charles Clinkard, Charles Tyrwhitt, Clarks, Cloggs, Cocosa, Co-operative Travel, Crocus.co.uk, Dabs.com, Damart, Debenhams, Dune, Dunelm Mill, Effortless Skin, Ethical Superstore, Firebox, First Choice, Freemans Grattan Holdings (Freemans, Grattan, Look Again, Kaleidoscope, Curvissa, Swimear365, Witt International UK), Furniture123, Game, Gamestation, Getting Personal.co.uk, Greenfingers.com, Home & Cook, House of Fraser, JD Sports, J D Williams, John Lewis Partnership, Ladderstore.com, Lastminute.com, LK Bennett, Lookfantastic.com, M and M Direct, Majestic Wine, Marks & Spencer, Matalan, Millets, Naked Wines, NaturalCollection.com, New Look, Next, Perfect Handbags Perricone MD, PetPlanet.co.uk, Philip Kingsley, PIXmania, Prezzybox.com, Purely Gadgets, QVC, Redfoot Revolution, Richer Sounds, Sainsbury’s, Scales Express, Schuh, Scotlight Direct, Scott, Shoe-Shop.com, Shop Direct Home Shopping (Brand Quarter, Kays, Littlewoods, Very, Isme, Woolworths), Serenata Flowers, Size, Slurp.co.uk, Sofa and Home, Sparkling Strawberry, Sunshine.co.uk, SuperGA, Tesco.com, The Body Shop, The Mat Factory, The Natural Skincare Co, The Natural Store, The White Company, This is Pulp, ToxicFox, TUI UK, Turton Wines, Waitrose, Warehouse, Wilkinson Hardware & Wynsors World of Shoes.
About IMRG
IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) is the UK’s industry association for e-retail. Formed in 1990, IMRG is setting and maintaining pragmatic and robust e-retail standards to enable fast-track industry growth, and facilitates its community of members with practical help, information, tools, guidance and networking. The strength of IMRG is the collective and cooperative power of its members. For more information please visit http://www.imrg.org/ or email membership@imrg.org  
About Capgemini
With more than 125,000 people in 44 countries, Capgemini is one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2012 global revenues of EUR 10.3 billion. Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business and technology solutions that fit their needs and drive the results they want. A deeply multicultural organisation, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience^TM, and draws on Rightshore®, its worldwide delivery model.
Learn more about us at www.capgemini.com.
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