August 22, 2010 by Matt Thomas
Research in to home shopping trends has revealed that online retail has enjoyed a surprising boost over the past month. According to the survey, sales over the World Wide Web increased more than ever before, in a trend thought to have been induced by the poor UK weather experienced throughout July.
The research showed that there was a growth in internet purchases by almost twenty percent, compared with the statistics gathered for the same month in 2009. This constitutes the biggest increase in web retail seen since 2007. The research was conducted by IMRG, the membership community for the e-retail industry.
Survey results show that shoppers in the UK spent around five billion pounds in July, the highest of any month this year. The figures showed that retail sales were writing much quicker than anticipated, as sales volumes jumped up over one percent compared with the previous month. All sectors apart from food retail showed a strong upturn in profits. The average UK resident spent over eighty pounds online, taking advantage of special offers and discounts.
According to the research group, travel sales increased, offsetting a disappointing drop in alcohol-related purchases, perhaps due in part to England’s poor performance in the World Cup.
For the purposes of the research, IMRG tracked the profit margins and sales activities of over one hundred retailers in the UK to generate an overview of the performance of online sales.
Chris Webster, a spokesperson for IMRG commented: “Although online retail sales survived the recession more convincingly than High Street sales, the last two years or so have no doubt been shaky at times. It is really encouraging to see growth levels returning to those seen pre-2007 and before consumer confidence was knocked by the financial crisis and the recession.”
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