UK non-food online sales rise in May

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jun 7, 2016

The four weeks of May delivered online sales growth of 13.7% in non-food categories, versus a 9.9% rise a year earlier. According to the BRC-KPMG Online Retail Sales Monitor, this was above the 3-month and 12-month averages of 9.9% and 12.2% respectively.

“The pace of online sales in May gathered momentum with a respectable 13.7 per cent growth on last year. Retailers saw positive growth in all categories while fashion sales throughout the month proved particularly popular with online shoppers,” said Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium.

The institution noted that this year’s figures did not account the second spring Bank Holiday due to its timing, which distorted the results slightly.

The proportion of UK non-food sales purchased online was 21.2% in April, the third highest penetration rate recorded by the monitor after the 22.4% rate shown in November 2015 and 21.5% in January 2016.

“Penetration rates continued to climb making May the fifth consecutive month above 20%. With a possible heatwave on the horizon, a strong multichannel business will be key to ensuring retailers can weather all weathers,” said David McCorquodale, Head of Retail at KPMG.

In May, clothing sales delivered their best performance since September. The proportion of clothing sold online was 27.9%, up 2.7% year-on-year. The category was boosted by the summer ranges, particularly in the men’s and children’s segment, which outperformed womenswear. Mid-season sales also contributed to this pick-up.

The proportion of footwear sales made online increased by 1.2% to 29.6%, remaining at the bottom of the online growth rankings table in May. Most of the growth came from men’s & children’s footwear, which experienced their highest growth in the last eight months.

Among the summer ranges, sandals and canvas shoes were top performers. The athleisure style continued to be popular, said BRC and KPMG.