Online sales growth slows in July
Online sales increased by 11.5% in July, the lowest year-on-year growth since January 2010 according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
British shoppers spent £5.58 billion online during the month which is a 5% increase on the previous month. However, growth was hampered by poor online sales in the travel sector.
The slowing growth comes as better weather saw more shoppers visiting retail parks and the high street rather than staying indoors to do their shopping. The negative growth in the travel sector was driven by a decline in holiday bookings this summer. Further evidence of a poor month was found in the electricals sector which declined 3% compared with the previous year.
Overall, the slowing of online growth was counterbalanced by the high-street, which reported a 2.5% month-on-month sales increase in July helped by a food and clothing sales boost. Online, certain sectors performed strongly such as home & garden, which increased 27% year-on-year. The clothing sector continued to expand with a 25% year-on-year rise as shoppers updated their wardrobes for the summer and took advantage of the sales.
Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini said: “The slowdown in July shows the internet is not immune in tough times. Successful retailers will need to expand into multichannel and continue to improve customer experience throughout the online shopping processes. Furthermore, with such a successful first half of 2011, it was a tall order for online sales to maintain such rapid growth.”
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, added: “With budgets being squeezed and disposable incomes shrinking, it is evident that consumers are making more considered purchases, especially on higher-ticket items, by researching across multiple online channels in order to make their money go further.”
