Even as the high street came out of hibernation last month, June’s online retail sales growth spiked to a new twelve-year high of 33.9%.
Data from the latest IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index shows the acceleration in online sales during the period was underpinned by the continued success of almost every category.
Leading the pack, electrical sales saw the largest increase – surging 99.7% year-on-year. Meanwhile, with pubs still closed beer, wine & spirit sales climbed 79.9%, which represents an increase of 78.8% in the year-to-date. In a further nod towards shifting consumer habits, health & beauty sales were also up 72.8% year-on-year – untouched by the reopening of their physical counterparts.
However, demand for clothing failed to return as the lockdown eased, with sales falling by -6.5%.
Examining the retailers by type, sales in June were overwhelmingly driven by multichannel sellers. Continuing the trend from March, multichannel retailers recorded far higher growth for the fifth consecutive month over their online-only counterparts, with sales up 51.7% versus 10.0%.
Lucy Gibbs, managing consultant – Retail Insight at Capgemini, commented: “The persistent increase in e-commerce will likely translate into new habits that will continue as we transition out of lockdown, however this is expected to be at lower levels than we have seen during the lockdown period. As the weeks continue, we will see if we have reached the turning point in online sales growth and which behaviours are here to stay as spending starts to revert to a ‘new normal’.”
Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG, added: “In June, growth for online retail sales was once again at a rate we’ve not seen since 2008, even with the shops open for half of it. So, initially at least, online has proven resilient to the reopening of the other main outlet for retail; the high street. However, as of 4th July, people have more options for how to spend their money, as pubs, restaurants and other leisure spaces have opened.
“So how long will the online boom last? For some categories (such as grocery and beers, wine and spirits) it seems reasonable to assume that some of the regular demand will have shifted online for good, while for other categories the huge surges they have seen might reach natural limits and slow down.”
NAM Implications:
- The key word is convenience, folks…
- Online retailers that can fulfil reliably and deliver more than it says on the tin…
- …has to gain repeat business.
- Logically, being multichannel means less missed opportunities.
- And if online retail sales prices can be maintained (lowering is not an option)…
- …the growth rate should continue post lockdown.
