Online sales continue to achieve single-digit growth in March
New figures released in the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index show that online sales grew by 9% year-on-year in March and by 11% on February 2015.
This meant that the index recorded only single-digit growth for each month in the first quarter of 2015 which is the first time this has happened in any quarter.
During the quarter, online sales grew by just 7% compared to the same period in 2014. However, this was on the back of a strong performance in the first quarter of last year when annual growth stood at 17% – the strongest first quarter growth seen since 2011.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said:”There are a number of factors that may be influencing this apparent slowdown in online retail sales growth – such as a maturing market or uncertainty around the upcoming election.
“One particular point that does stand out from the latest figures however is that travel growth for Q1 2015 (+19%) was the strongest we’ve seen for that quarter since we started tracking this sector in 2009 – this suggests that consumers may be feeling more confident in how the economic recovery is progressing and spending out on holidays again, diverting that potential expenditure away from retail sites.”
The index shows that current growth is largely being driven by mobile sales on tablets or smartphones. Sales on the devices rose by 9% on the previous month and by 46% on March 2014. During the first quarter of 2015, mobile saw an increase of 38% on the same period last year.
Adgild Hop, principal head of retail consulting at Capgemini, said: “The influence of sales via a tablet or smartphone, which are in effect the main vehicles for growth in the index, is a clear indication of just how valuable mobile platforms have become to the retail customer experience. If it weren’t for mobile, the overall trends for e-retail would be neutral at best. Retailers therefore need to expect that as online propositions become increasingly commoditised, the secret to differentiation and competitive advantage increasingly resides in the mobile customer experience.”
The index also reveals that online sales in March were boosted by Mother’s Day with items in the gift sector rising 20% year-on-year and reaching a 48% peak during the week leading up to the day.
