IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index: Easter fails to provide boost for subdued online retail sales in April

Further sector analysis shows a number of categories struggling significantly in April – most notably Clothing, which saw its overall growth rate slow to +6.7% YoY (from +9.9% in April 2018) and decreases in both Lingerie (-8.5%) and Accessories (-2.6%). This was the six-consecutive month of single-digit growth for Clothing, and follows a quarter of just +3.2% growth versus +13.9% in Q1 2018.

Elsewhere in April, Electricals continued its downwards momentum, with growth falling to -27%, and Gifts saw a similarly steep decline of -22%. Following a 15-month run of very healthy growth, Health & Beauty also slumped to -0.7% growth.

In terms of channel spend, it has been an interesting year to date for mobile commerce. As the channel has matured, we had been seeing a slowdown in growth over the last four years, however sales really picked up in the past two quarters and Q1 saw average growth of +12.4% versus last quarter (for smartphones and tablets combined). In a complete reversal of fortunes, device sales for April however dropped by a staggering -20.5%, with the decrease more marked for online-only retailers (-39%) than multichannel (-8%).

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini, said: “Easter 2018 fell between March and April so we were hopeful the figures for April 2019 would be favourable (full Easter performance) given the slow performance in March – this did not seem to be the case given the 5.2% increase YoY. If you compare March and April 2018 to March and April 2019 then the growth is  only 6.2%, which is still less than half the growth of April 2018 on April 2017. Home and Garden was one area which fared relatively well in April 2019, growing at 13% YoY and buoyed by a very hot Easter weekend; we have previously seen a correlation with significant growth for this category during this period.

Looking ahead, we are approaching a strong May-July 2018 performance to benchmark against given the royal wedding, football World Cup and good weather, leaving retailers with the feeling of having a ‘mountain to climb’ next month and beyond.”

 Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG, said: “2018 was a tough year for retail generally as the industry appears to be undergoing an accelerating period of transformation. Online sales were strong in the first half of the year, but growth rates dropped toward the end of the year culminating in subdued trading over the Black Friday and Christmas peak. 2019 has seen a continuation of those trends, with clothing sales having a particularly difficult time; growth for this category has been low single-digit for six consecutive months for the first time since we started tracking it.

“There seems to be little sign of imminent improvement in shopper confidence; retailers will now be hoping that the warmer weather forecast over the coming weeks may stimulate greater demand, especially for those selling seasonal fashion lines.”

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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.

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 over 200,000 team members in more than 40 countries. The Group reported 2018 global revenues of EUR 13.2 billion.

Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count.