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Published
Oct 17, 2018
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Online clothing sector faces headwinds as September growth falters

Published
Oct 17, 2018

Of all UK online sectors, clothing was the hardest hit by the decline in consumer spending in September, growing by just 2.2% compared to September 2017, the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index has shown.



Overall, September was a slow month for the UK online retail market, which grew by just 7.5% compared to the same month last year. This was the lowest growth rate since 2014, the report said.

And a shopping boost around the August bank holiday failed to offset a slowdown during the third quarter, with online retail sales growth of 10.1% versus 17.1% in the second quarter of the year.

The impact was felt hardest in the clothing sector, with its 2.2% growth being significantly below the 5-year average for September of 7.4%.

“Back to school and new season launches seem to have had less of a draw for consumers despite weather being favourable. The clothing sector saw a drop in online visitation in September, though conversion and basket value increased, suggesting that a smaller customer base is driving the sales and customers are shopping on a more needs basis rather than impulse buys,” said Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement at Capgemini.

Meanwhile, Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG, suggested that consumers are putting off shopping ahead of Black Friday in November.

“Several retailers have spoken publicly about the scale of discounting that has been active across various retail sites, meaning that the industry is already heavily involved in discounting before we even get near to Black Friday. The conversion rate was markedly down in September; could it possibly be that people are already browsing for ideas, in the knowledge that Black Friday will inevitably bring heavier discounts?” he said.

Online retail sales via smartphones grew 16.1% in September compared to last year and sales via tablets continued to plummet, down 22.5%.

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