UK online sales recorded another decline in revenue last month, extending a run dating back to May 2021.
The total market saw a 4.1% year-on-year fall, which is all the more disappointing as it was compared to a decline of 27.6% in February 2022, which was the biggest monthly decline ever reported in IMRG’s Online Retail Index, which tracks online sales for over 200 retailers.
The month-on-month decline between January and February (-7.8%) was in line with previous years, but as the fall between December and January (-29.4%) was sharper than normal, the index was building from a lower base in February.
The online clothing category saw steep declines in February (8.7% YoY), continuing the prolonged struggle for growth in the sector since October 2022. The highest-performing category last month was gardening, which saw annual growth of 38.7%. While the latter is relative to a -37.4% YoY decline in February 2022, it is still growth to celebrate as other categories were against similar declines and still saw further falls this year.
Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director, IMRG: “Following the pandemic boom in online sales growth, volumes have fallen away for a period of almost two years now. At some point in 2023, even though growth was not possible in February against the biggest decline ever from February 2022, we still think growth will return, even if it is very modest. The basket value shot up last year, and conversion collapsed accordingly, but those rates seem to have stabilised now, so it’s just a question of when the apparently-temporary pandemic volume has fallen away sufficiently to enable retailers to really take stock of how to build up again.”
