Online and mail order sales growth fell back in January after picking up in November and December last year, according to the latest BRC–KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. Sales in this category were 12.3% higher than a year ago, less than the 18% recorded in December.
“The growth of online sales of non-food goods was the weakest since last January, while store sales put in their strongest performance for almost a year,” said Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium. “On the face of it that’s a sharp contrast. But after strong figures in October and November, it’s perhaps no surprise online growth slowed in January.”
While store sales were hit in the run-up to Christmas as bad weather kept people at home, online sales continued to grow steadily, said Robertson. “In January store sales may have beneftted from demand held over from the previous month in a way online retailing didn’t. Even so online sales still grew nearly three times faster than store sales and the gradual underlying shift towards online retailing continues,” he added.
The Retail Sales Monitor shows that total UK retail sales values were up 2.3% on a like-for-like basis from January 2010 when sales had fallen 0.7%.
