IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index : Online retail sales rebound in October, but still lowest ever for that month

Breaking down the results, October’s slightly more positive overall performance was mirrored in a number of categories, including clothing (+5.2%), beer, wine and spirits (+4.8%) and home (+13.6%). Clothing sales, in particular, sprang back from their first negative growth in over two years in September, to record the modest rise. There was also a small glimmer of hope for electrical retailers, who saw their steady plummet in sales slow to -10.5% YoY vs. -15.4% in September.

From a channel perspective, online only retailers had a far stronger month than their multichannel counterparts, with sales growth of +12.4% in comparison to just +4.3%. Meanwhile a rise in M-commerce (+15.2%) highlighted a similar divide in growth between smartphones (+50.8%) and tablets (-8.6%).

Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG, said “On the surface of it, online retail sales performance in October showed signs of improvement compared with how it has been doing in recent months. However, there are several signs in the data that the growth was in response to heavy discounting – the overall average basket value was down -21%, for clothing it was down -13%, while for electricals it was also down -21% and the revenue growth for that category was still negative.

The question now is whether this stronger growth is indicative of an improvement in shopper demand, or whether November sales will struggle as a result of volume being pulled forward. This happened in June this year, where sales growth was up +8.5%, the highest of the year, but this was as a result of discounting to stimulate that activity and July growth was the lowest ever for that month as a consequence. Retailers will be hoping that Black Friday falling later in the month, after payday, will help sustain shopper demand – but it seems far from certain.

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini, said: “October results provided a little relief for online growth figures, climbing back above average for the year so far, but it was also the lowest October growth on record, and a third lower than last year. Online only retailers did fare better. However, they also saw a higher differential in basket value suggesting greater discounting could be driving this as we start the slippery slope in the run up to the festive period, where online remains the go-to for deal seekers.

Discounting campaigns are a familiar call to action when retailers are running behind targets to kick start sales activity.  However, we have seen that reliance on discounting earlier and earlier in the season dilutes the effect of the flash sale events, such as the adopted, then anticipated, now extended Black Friday Sales.  Will this year be a washout as retailers struggle to capture shopper attention amongst a build-up of tactical discounting, or will shoppers release the purse strings as they look to get the most value for their money in an uncertain climate?”

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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 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.