UK online retail sales grew by 50% year on year to £1.1 billion during October, according to the latest figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). This is also a 36% rise over September’s sales and could be the start of a Christmas surge for the e-retail sector.
The IMRG is forecasting that sales during November and December will hit £3.3 billion this year, double 2002’s Christmas spending. The early indications are that a wide range of retail sectors are experiencing strong sales in the run-up to Christmas; in anticipation the IMRG has launched an
e-christmas consumer website.
Internet shopping has been around since the mid-1990s and is already worth around £1 billion per month in the UK, representing around 6% of all retail sales. Around 14 million UK adults have shopped online and their spending has doubled consistently each year during the past four years.
UK e-retail sales are on track to be worth at least £14 billion for calendar year 2003, up from £7.6 billion in 2002. In the US, e-retail sales this year are expected to reach $95.7 billion, up from $74 billion in 2002, according to Forrester Research (see Ecommerce Will Take 10% Of All US Retail In 2008, Says Forrester).
