Best first quarter for online sales in three years
The latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index has revealed that online sales grew by 18% for the first three months of 2011. This is the strongest first quarter performance in three years and contrasts sharply with the doom and gloom reported on the high street.
The report says that UK shoppers spent a total of £5.1 billion online in March, 14% more than in March 2010. The health and beauty sector was a particularly strong performer with sales up by 20% from February, and 32% year-on-year.
However some sectors did less well with the travel sector plunging 15% on February and down 2% compared with March 2010. This was the first time the sector had declined year-on-year in over twelve months. There was also a drop in other big-ticket sectors, such as electrical goods, which saw an 8% decline from February as government cuts begin to bite and affect the consumer’s appetite for more expensive items.
Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini said: “March was a solid month for online retail; 14% annual growth is a healthy result and quite a contrast to the reports from the high-street. The 18% growth in the Index during Q1 is indicative of a new trend. Consumers are indeed tightening belts, but they are still shopping, and have simply become more strategic in their buying habits.”
Tina Spooner, Director of Information at IMRG added: “The Index reveals an encouraging performance for the e-retail market during March and confirms that online continues to be the beacon for the UK retail market during these tough economic conditions, with the high street suffering its worst drop in sales for 15 years during the same period. The 18% annual growth recorded in the first quarter of 2011 is in line with our prediction for the year.
The report said that the gap between multi-channel and online-only retailers continued to increase in March. Retailers with both a high-street and online presence achieved 19% growth on average compared with March last year, while online achieved just 6%.
The IMRG Capgemini Index, which was started in April 2000, tracks ‘online sales’, via interactive channels’ from any location, including in-store.
