Acceleration in online shopping revealed

Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 12:43 by Graham Miller

With a 19.4 per cent increase in safe shopping online, May was a particularly strong month for e-commerce in the UK.

This data comes from the latest IMRG study, which found that in the past quarter the rise in web-based sales has been sitting solidly at around 19 per cent year on year.

To put this in context, the demand for safe shopping online amongst British consumers has not enjoyed such a spurt of growth for around eight years, according to Internet Retailing.

Another important data point uncovered in the study is that shoppers are proving to be easier for retailers to convert after they arrive on a site. Four point eight per cent of visitors make a purchase when they click through, up from 4.6 per cent in May of 2017.

Report spokesperson, Andy Mulcahy, said that 2018 had proven to be a bumper year for e-commerce, with last month proving to be an especially positive period. Catalysts for growth including the Royal Wedding and various sporting events helped to inflate consumer spending a little, but it is otherwise indicative of a wider upwards trend.

Mulcahy also said that even with small gains seen on the high street, it is apparent that any minor boom enjoyed by bricks and mortar outlets is reflected in a much larger way in the world of the web.

He described the rapid expansion of e-commerce spending as being the latest sign of just how much consumers in the UK are committed to online shopping as a platform for retail.

Last month saw a 54.4 per cent uptick in footwear sales, singling out this market segment as the biggest beneficiary of the sales growth. Garden equipment and outdoor items were also up by a fifth, with the fine conditions convincing consumers to get outdoors after a cold spring.