Growth in e-commerce sales shrunk in April

Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 14:43 by Graham Miller

While the number of sales being carried out online is still increasing across the UK, the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium have shown that the rate of growth was actually at the lowest point so far in 2014.

In the retail market as a whole, just over 16 per cent of all sales were made online during April, which is a small rise compared with the same month last year. But while the average monthly boost to online shopping has been sitting at almost 13 per cent for the past year, it was down to 11.2 per cent last month.

Analysts believe that this is as a direct result of the Easter holiday falling in April and resulting in more consumers heading out to the high street for some retail therapy, rather than staying inside and indulging in safe shopping online.

Report spokesperson, Helen Dickinson, explained that the figures show how important the bricks and mortar experience can still be for consumers, especially when they have the opportunity to actually head to the high street.

Shopping online is a great way of buying the products you need at a price you can afford if your free time is limited. And because many millions of Brits now shop from their smartphones, you can still organise deliveries, even if you are doing other things.

But experts believe that it is important for retailers to recognise just how much consumers value a multichannel approach to shopping. Because now we are used to being able to buy online and also head to a local store, as and when appropriate.

While growth in e-commerce sales may have been down last month, this seems like an anomaly which will not be replicated throughout the year.