IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index: Spring is in the air with continued strong sales for online shopping

Much of the growth recorded in February was driven by an especially strong month for online clothing sales, which saw a significant YoY spike of 22%; its largest annual growth since June 2013. The clothing sub-sectors enjoyed an equally solid result, with the sale of menswear and accessories increasing 31% and 35% respectively. The colder weather may have had an impact on sales here, with shoppers spending on winter-wear following the unseasonably warm final quarter of 2015.

Valentine’s Day helped give the index a further push with romantics splashing out on presents for their loved ones, resulting in a strong performance in the lingerie sector, with sales up 20% year-on-year.  Although the gifts sector fared less well (+6% YoY), sales peaked in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, in line with historical trends.

However, despite a welcome return to double-digit growth (15%) in January, following a tough 2015 for this sector, the sale of electrical items was disappointing in February. Online sales dropped 17% month-on-month and recorded an annual increase of just 6%.

Tina Spooner, chief information officer, IMRG said: “Following a strong performance in January, UK e-retail sales continued to accelerate last month, resulting in overall year-on-year growth of 16%, year-to-date.  Although this is on the back of a relatively weak performance in Q1 2015, the latest results are impressive and are well ahead of our 11% growth forecast for 2016.

“It is evident the shift towards mobile devices continues, with smartphones accounting for over a third (34%) of mobile commerce sales during February. This is up from 24% in the same month last year, and reveals that smartphones have taken an additional 10% share of UK m-retail sales over the past year.”

Richard Tremellen, Retail Insight and Data Specialist, Capgemini, commented: “Despite overall retail sales in February being flat, online growth continues to be strong.  This is particularly encouraging given average basket values were up some 11% year on year, indicating factors other than discounting are driving growth.  The strong performance in clothing suggests retailer investments in breadth of range, flexible delivery and ease of returns may be paying off for this sector.

“February also saw the continued disparity between sales made via smartphones and tablet devices. While smartphones recorded a healthy 92% annual growth, sales made on tablets grew by just 11%.”

   -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. 

Over one hundred e-retailers now regularly contribute data to the IMRG Capgemini Index, including

A. Hume Country Clothing, Amara, Appliance House, Arcadia Group (Burton, Top Man, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Wallis, Miss Selfridge), Ask Direct, ASOS.com, B&Q, Berry Bros & Rudd, Blacks, Boden.co.uk, Boots, Brora, Buyagift.com, Carphone Warehouse, Charles Tyrwhitt, Clarks, Clinkards, Crocus.co.uk, Dabs.com, Damart, Debenhams, Deckers, Dunelm Mill, Effortless Skin, Ethical Superstore, Feelunique.com, Firebox, First Choice, Freemans Grattan Holdings (Freemans, Grattan, Look Again, Kaleidoscope, Curvissa, Swimear365, Witt International UK), Game,  Greenfingers.com, House of Fraser, HouseTrip.co.uk, JD Sports, JD Williams, John Lewis Partnership, Ladderstore.com, Lakeland Furniture, Liz Earle, LK Bennett, M and M Direct, Made In Design, Majestic Wine, Marks & Spencer,  Millets, Missguided, Moss Bros, Naked Wines, NaturalCollection.com, New Look, Next, Notonthehighstreet.com, Oasis, PetPlanet.co.uk, PetsPyjamas.com, Prezzybox.com, QVC, River Island, Rocket Dog, Scales Express, Schuh, Scotlight Direct, Scott, Screwfix.com, Shoe-Shop.com, Shop Direct Home Shopping (Littlewoods, Very, Very Exclusive), Serenata Flowers, Shoetique, Silentnight, Size, Sofa and Home, Sparkling Strawberry, Spirit Boutique, Sunshine.co.uk, Tesco.com, The Body Shop, The Great Gift Company, The White Company, TUI UK, Turton Wines, Universal Music, Waitrose, Within Home, Woods of Shropshire & Wynsors World of Shoes.

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