Online Beats the Records

Monthly Internet shopping soared into ten figures for the first time in November as Britain's 14.3 million online shoppers flooded e-retailers with £1,000 million worth of orders, according to the IMRG Index.

The Index has risen almost ten fold, from 100 to 993, during the 32 months it has tracked UK e-retail sales, since April 2000, and the pace of growth it reveals continues to accelerate. The November Index was based on sales of £218 million reported by 77 participating e-retailers, which represents 22% of the estimated market.

Yet another massive upsurge in consumer demand drove 10.1% growth on the preceding month's sales. Year-on-year e-retail sales almost doubled - at 95%, the growth in Internet shopping is 15 times faster than that of general retail sales, which slowed to just 6.1% annually, according to the BRC Index.

Jaap Favier, Research Director of Forrester's European Research Centre commented: 'This high growth confirms that UK consumers at large are getting very confident with online purchasing. With the US market taking its toll from the economic slump, the UK consumer is on his / her way to becoming the world's largest spender online.'

UK online shopping is growing three times faster than in the USA, and is three times the proportion of total retail sales. US retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2002 was just over $11 billion, representing 1.3% of total US retail according to latest figures from the US Department of Commerce, an increase of 34.3 percent from Q3 2001. UK e-retail during the same period was worth £2 billion ($3.14 billion), representing 4% of total UK retail, and was 114.5% higher than Q3 2001.

Consumer demand is broad based and evolving. There is evidence of entire rural and other communities adopting online grocery shopping, of neighbours pooling their orders to take advantage of bulk savings, and of millions of people now routinely opting to avoid travel chaos by shopping online.

'Broadband's rapid take-up is already having a profound impact on online shopping, setting exciting new expectations for consumers.' commented IMRG's CEO, James Roper. 'It's fast connectivity enables consumers to nip to the stores online and enjoy a hassle-free, rich online shopping experience. No wonder that 17% of consumers poled recently said Internet shopping would be the primary way they bought Christmas presents this year. And with broadband being 'always on', people can pop to the shops online whenever they want without worrying about connection charges clocking up.'

Tom McLoughlin, retail general manager, BT, commented: 'With the number of broadband customers predicted to increase to one million by next August, being able to offer online speed and agility to consumers will be vital for retailers. BT is working closely with many high street retailers to ensure they have technology available in stores, at the warehouse and online so they can adapt to this transformation in customer purchasing habits.'

The IMRG Index is currently being expanded to report more data and break out more sectors; the next sectors targeted for breakout are furniture / homewares, DIY, electricals and travel. All interactive retail channels are included in the survey: Internet, interactive TV, m-commerce, and others that may emerge.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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