UK online retailers enjoyed a bumper month in January, with many pure player’ enjoying most of the spoils. In this article, a number of top industry figures give their views on how the UK online retail sector is doing.
Jonathon Brown, Head of Online Selling, John Lewis, comments:
“In January johnlewis.com continued to see significant outperformance as our customers responded to our excellent product offer and great customer experience. Overall sales were up over 35% with all buying groups outperforming last year. Most notable was fashion which continued to drive forward with sales +70% on the same month last year. The category was boosted by phenomenal sales in womenswear, accessories and beauty. Home, on the back of our Clearance offer, had a very strong month with sales up over 30% on 2010. Overall it has been a great way to finish the financial year and having passed the £500m landmark (for the year), we have certainly closed out on a high.”
Russ Carroll, UK Managing Director, Shopping.com, says:
“The e-retail market is going from strength to strength as consumers continue to go online for the best price, choice and easiest shopping experience when buying a variety of goods. Supporting growth experienced in the travel sector, Shopping.com saw sales of luggage rise by over 20% as many consumers decided they needed to get away from the miserable British weather! Strong year-on-year growth is proving that even when purse strings are tight, consumers are recognising the value of shopping online.”
Gareth Jones, Retail Director, Shop Direct Group, comments:
“We have maintained the strong sales performance that we saw over the Christmas period. Sales via mobile devices have been particularly pleasing and have continued to show impressive growth, with a 320% year-on-year increase being recorded for January.”
Michael Norton, Managing Director of PayPoint.net comments:
“The online retail industry goes from strength to strength in a challenging retail market. Our data showed a 42% increase in the number of online transactions in January compared with this time last year and we also saw a significant increase in total consumer spend. We’re seeing a growing number of consumers turn to the convenience and better prices that only online retailers can offer.”
Phillip Rinn, Director of Advertising Partnerships, eBay Advertising, comments:
“The 31% year-on-year increase in online travel spend highlights just how much consumers are embracing online as a popular channel for holiday and travel-related purchases. Travel is one of the sectors of the UK economy that saw the earliest adoption of the internet as an initial point of purchase and this trend shows no sign of abating. From a marketing point of view, it’s therefore important that online has a proportionate share of the overall spend when brand marketers are allocating budgets.”
Bruce Fair, Managing Director, Kelkoo, comments:
“Spending levels witnessed in January will be the exception rather than the norm for 2011, in what can only be described as the ‘last hurrah’ before the government’s austerity measures dampen consumer appetite to shop in the coming months. People were frantically heading online in an attempt to beat the VAT increase and grab a bargain in January. After such a bleak winter, it’s also no great surprise that the draw of sunnier climes was so appealing last month, resulting in a welcome holiday booking boom for the online travel industry.”
Source:
http://www.imrg.org/
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