UK online retail reached an all-time high in July, exceeding £4 billion for the first time, according to retail body the IMRG.
UK sales were up 80% year on year, to £4.2 billion, £1.86 billion higher than in July 2006.
Electricals was the strongest growing sector, up by 102% year-on-year, with clothing, footwear and accessories up by 56% on the year before.
Jo Evans, IMRG MD, said: “IMRG was surprised by the strength of July’s growth, so checked and rechecked the figures then checked them again.
“Major brands are bringing on-stream the next generation of slick new internet retailing services, and consumers are flocking to use them. It’s big players’ success that is now driving e-tail growth and boosting the Index.”
Several factors contributed to July’s very strong growth, said IMRG, including the very wet weather which inhibited traveling, encouraged people to shop online, and forced many people to replace water-damaged goods.
Many new-season catalogues are published at this time of year, their orders being taken largely online these days.
A recent report from comScore revealed that US online consumer spending was up 23% year on year in the second quarter of 2007 (see Ofcom Plans New Public Service Channel To Rival BBC).
In separate research, Verdict Research forecast that online sales will almost triple over the next five years, reaching £28 billion in 2011 (see Ofcom Plans New Public Service Channel To Rival BBC).
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