Why Ecommerce?

Ecommerce Growth Continues Despite High Street Slowdown

Figures released from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index show that online spending rose in July to reach a total market value of over £4.8 billion, which is the equivalent of £79 for every person in the UK . The Index shows that shoppers continued to spend online despite pressures on disposable income with sales rising 11.3% in June. Online retail growth is in sharp comparison to BRC figures which showed that high street sales for July were 0.9% down on last year.

In the first six months of 2008 UK shoppers spent £26.5billion online, up 38% on the £19.2billion recorded for the same period last year. That means online sales are now accounting for 17p in every pound spent, equivalent to half of all supermarket sales.

The researchers are now predicting that between 30% and 50% of retail sales will be online in five years.

"This is because, as online reaches 20% of all retail sales, retailers experience a tipping point which forces them to seriously re-think the future viability of their business model, We have seen this happen for books, music/DVDs and electricals and as the industry as a whole reaches this tipping point in 2008, more categories are sure to follow."

Mike Petevinos - head of consulting for retail at Capgemini UK

£150bn is a staggering amount of money to have been spent in eight years through a shopping channel that did not even exist fifteen years ago - IMRG

Cold and wet April weather encouraged UK shoppers to buy clothing online, spending 85% more on the web than in the year before, figures suggest. Industry body Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) said £326m was spent on clothing through the internet, amid snow and rain last month.

Online sales to hit £78bn by 2010 - IMRG

The IMRG's annual statement says Retail is growing faster than ever before, and predicts online sales in the UK will reach £78bn a year by 2010. The group says £42bn will be spent online by UK shoppers in 2007, up from £30.2bn last year, while worldwide online sales will hit £250bn this year.

Other highlights include:

860m parcels will be shipped to the UK's 26m internet shoppers; 33 each on average.
The average UK online shopper will spend £1,600.
38% of online shopping takes place outside normal shop hours, either before 9am or after 6pm, peaking between 7pm and 9pm.
UK e-commerce grew 3,500% between April 2000 and December 2006.
Internet shoppers will spend £78bn a year online by 2010 – doubling online's share of retail sales to 20%.
The £42bn figure for UK online sales is equivalent to the annual turnover of the nation's biggest retailer Tesco.
Tesco recently announced that its online sales during the year reached £1.226bn, with profits of £83.4m. The supermarket giant's sales rose by 29.2% and profits were up by 48.5% on last year.
Tesco.com now has over 850,000 regular online grocery customers ordering 250,000 orders a week.