Online sales grew by 14.7% in July, compared to the same time last year, new figures from the British Retail Consortium suggest.
Ecommerce represented 17.6% of all non-food sales, up from 16.5% in July 2015, according to the BRC-KPMG Online Retail Sales Monitor for the month.
Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC , said: ““The proportion of non-food sales moving online was up on the previous year, in part due to consumers’ demand for click-andcollect services. In some cases online is helping to drive shoppers back into stores which often inspires impulse purchases. This may help explain why bricks and mortar stores contributed slightly more of the overall sales growth than online in the three months to July.
“In combination with a strong high street proposition, online is an enabler of sales growth across any number of channels which can include click-and-collect, reserving goods and mobile commerce for many retailers. Retailers can use the online data of customer purchases to deliver a more personalised experience for people who come to the collection points, converting click-and-collect footfall into even more sales in store. This is further proof that customers don’t think in channels when making their purchases and are now presented with a mix of options which target them with products of personal interest to them.”
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG , said: “E-sales continue to be an important part of retailer’s strategy with strong digital campaigns still capturing shoppers’ attention and keeping online penetration rates strong at 17.6% growth versus last year.
“Despite this, non-food online sales growth was slightly down versus last month’s record performance. With the kids out of school, families took to the high-street to bag a bargain ahead of jetting off on summer holidays.”
The figures came as the KPMG-BRC Retail Sales Monitor showed total UK retail sales grew by 2.2% in July, compared to last year, with like-for-like sales up by 1.2%.
