Easter activity increases online sales

Friday, May 12, 2017 - 09:32 by Graham Miller

Last month there was a 10.3 per cent uptick in purchases made via safe shopping online, according to stats published this week by the British Retail Consortium.

This strong year on year growth is, in part, down to the fact that Easter fell in April this year, whereas back in 2016 it landed in late March and shifted spending trends accordingly.

The entire e-commerce market now represents 21.6 per cent of the UK’s total retail spending, showing that it is becoming increasingly influential as people flock to take advantage of shopping online during seasonal spikes in activity.

Report spokesperson, Helen Dickinson, highlighted a number of product categories which performed well in April this year, including consumer electronics and toys snapped up ahead of the Easter break. She also said that the high street benefitted from the festivities, with more people visiting bricks and mortar outlets than during the same period in 2016.

April reversed the trend for the gradual decline in e-commerce growth, although Dickinson said that economic uncertainties would continue to leave consumers less willing to part with their cash going forwards.

She predicted that in spite of this, the web will continue to play an important role in the UK’s retail market, fuelling any growth that is achieved and determining the trends to which retailers have to respond.

The multichannel approach remains the most impactful in terms of increasing sales, with retailers expected to offer online and in-store experiences which are consistent and interlinked in order to appeal to consumers. They must also shore up trust and be prepared to prove that their digital offerings are secure, or else face the likelihood that shoppers will head elsewhere, picking rivals that take protecting their customers seriously in the often unstable world of the web.