UK consumers continued to spend freely on the internet during January, according to new figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group.
After a bumper December during which online sales topped £1 billion for the first time (see
Internet Shopping Is A Billion Pound Industry, Says IMRG), spending remained constant at £999.85 million.
This is all the more creditable considering that mainstream retailing fell by 44% from £29.2 billion in December to £16.5 billion last month. It would appear that many consumers preferred to go online than run the gauntlet of the New Year sales and as a result, e-commerce accounted for 6% of the total UK retail market in January.
