IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index: September shows no sign of respite for online retailers, as sales continue to slump

Delving into the categories, clothing saw its first negative growth in over two years at -1.2% against last year. This may have been reflective of a number of initiatives in September that aimed to shift consumer attitudes towards sustainable fashion. In stark contrast to previous performance where sales had major growth menswear sales suffered significantly (-22.5%). Womenswear, footwear and accessories also declined with YoY growth rates of -13.3%, -9.8% and -9.0% respectively.

Elsewhere the picture wasn’t all negative. Health & beauty saw sales growing by +16.4%, while the warmer weather at the start of the month also led to a surprise increase in beers, wine and spirits sales, rising by +15.3% compared to -11.4% in 2018. Even home and garden saw a slight reprieve from last month’s decline, reaching +1.22% overall. However, with a number of the other categories continuing their downwards sales plummets, including electricals (-15.47%) and gifts (-18.2%), the few inclines weren’t enough to push up the month’s overall average.

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini, said: “September’s results will have triggered some clear warning signs for retailers as sales are stuttering at the beginning of the ‘golden quarter’; online sales are up only +0.6%, and 9 out of the 15 sectors we track reported negative performance in comparison to last year.   

“Most notably, the clothing sector was down -1.2%, despite the average basket value remaining flat at £78 and the conversion rate increasing by +2% against last year, which indicates that low demand is the driver for the poor performance. Increasing pressures are hitting consumer spending, with low confidence in the political climate and the warmer weather at the start of the month both attributed by retailers as critical factors in this month’s results. Adding to this, September saw a push for sustainability and reduction in fast fashion, with initiatives throughout the month discouraging new season purchases.

“Retailers will now be looking ahead at how to make the most out of the peak period. With Black Friday promotional discounting on the horizon and consumers’ expectations set for big reductions, this may prove challenging for retailers to manage after several difficult months.”

Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG, said “September was another poor month for online sales growth; January-September the index is up just +4.9% versus a start-of-year forecast of +9%. Retailers just seem to be facing so many issues at the moment, with low shopper confidence driving the need to discount and very few categories performing well. There is only one possible positive factor, which might seem slightly surprising, that could help stimulate sales growth – Brexit.

 “In the six months following the June 2016 referendum result, many expected the economic impact to be negative but actually a lot of the indicators were stronger than anticipated. If the UK does leave the EU by end of October, while that brings challenges and disruption for businesses, in the short-term the average person isn’t likely to notice any immediate impact. Given that 2016 precedent, should Brexit happen, there might be a collective sigh of relief that the tedium of hearing about it is finally over. We could see a degree of buoyancy in spending just in time for Black Friday and Christmas, which though temporary could help get retailers through what otherwise might prove a tough peak trading period.”

*Travel sector has been significantly impacted by industry events this month and therefore has been removed for the total market benchmark

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About the ‘IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index’

The IMRG Capgemini Online Retail 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 organisations to realise 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 over 200,000 team members in more than 40 countries. The Group reported 2018 global revenues of EUR 13.2 billion.