UK shoppers spent £678.8m a week online in February, according to official figures released today. That’s 12.4% more than at the same time last year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in its February retail sales report, published this week, that 10.7% of all retail spending, excluding petrol, took place online in the month.
Ecommerce growth in some sectors outstripped the average: department store sales grew by 22% on last year, with 9.1% of all their sales taking place online. Meanwhile, textile, clothing and footwear stores saw ecommerce sales grow by 15.3%, accounting for 11.1% of all spending. In food stores, online spending grew by 12.2% on last year but remained at a relatively low proportion, at 3.9%.
At the same time, total UK retail sales, most of which take place in shops, grew by 3.7% in quantity in February, compared to the previous year. The amount spent rose by 3.7%.
Overall, shoppers spent £26.2bn a week in February 2014, or £6.6bn a week. That’s up on the £25.3bn – or £6.3bn a week – spent in February 2013.
