Strong growth returns to online market

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - 10:39 by Simon Crisp

Analysts were slightly surprised to see the growth of sales made via safe shopping online decline steeply in August this year, with some suggesting that the market was beginning to plateau in the UK. But September was a far more positive month, with new IMRG figures showing that e-commerce transactions were up 12 per cent year on year.

Double digit growth may have returned for the market as a whole, but the mobile sector continues to be the biggest e-commerce success story, with sales up by 41 per cent last month, when compared with the same period in 2014.

There were also positive signs for specific parts of the retail sector, with consumer electronics enjoying a 6.4 per cent sales boost, in part influenced by the launch of Apple’s latest iPhone range. This comes following a year in which there has been significant slowdown, with tablet sales faltering and many smartphone makers finding it hard to keep up the same levels of growth as have been seen in the past half-decade.

The weak performance in August for the online market does seem to have been a minor blip, made worse as a result of seasonal pressures. And with the festive shopping period just around the corner, now is the time of year during which retailers, both on the high street and online, can look forward to steady sales increases.

One of the ways in which retailers can ensure that sales continue to grow over time is to make sure that consumers are confident in being able to carry out safe shopping online, as security concerns can cause trust to falter and might lead to more people sticking to shopping on the high street, rather than putting their personal details at risk via the internet.