Figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showed online clothing sales were boosted by the April weather. April’s rain and show encouraged online shoppers to spend nearly £326 million on clothes and online footwear sales saw a significant growth in sales of 20%. These figures drew a sharp contrast to sales on the high street – The British Retail Consortium reported that clothing and footwear fell further to their worst for at least 8 years.
This trend was further backed by the figures in July 2007 – the clothing, footwear and accessories sector shot up by 85% to over £90 million during the week of 16th July 2007 when the UK experienced torrential downpours, hail and thunder. The UK also saw flood warnings this same week and the Index reported a dramatic increase in online sales for footwear of 165.
Even in light of the looming credit crunch, the online clothing sector is still growing at a high rate. Of notable interest, shoppers are turning to the internet when making more personal underwear purchases – the Index has seen online year-on-year sales for lingerie rise by 72%. According to Julia Reynolds, Chief Executive of Figleaves.com: “The lean and fit will survive the credit crunch. Our experience tells us that retailers with strong brand values and a clear target customer will stand out during an unsure economic environment. To introduce changes in fashion seasons online, e-tailers need to communicate with customers what’s new and use various marketing methods, for example email alone is no longer sufficient.”
On the 8th Anniversary for the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, there has been a clear trend of how the internet has become an essential platform for survival. The Index has been monitoring e-retail sales since April 2000, where more than £150 billion has been spent online by British shoppers in the 97 months. The beer, wines and spirits, clothing and electrical sectors have shown consistently strong annual growth. The Index also shows that the lingerie and footwear sector has experienced particularly strong growth in the past year, whilst health and accessories sales have remained at a constant level.
Anthoula Madden, Vice President at Capgemini UK’s Consumer Products and Retail Team said: “The clothing sector is clearly seeing continued growth in online sales as shoppers appear to be avoiding the bad weather outdoors on the high street. Our retail clients have continued to report strong online sales, even in light of the unsure economic environment. It is clear that online is a key survival channel for traditional high street retailers to ride out poor weather periods and tough trading conditions.”
Jo Evans, MD of IMRG, commented: “The diverging growth patterns of online vs. high street sales clearly show that shopping behaviour is changing fundamentally in favour of the internet. One hundred and fifty billion pounds 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.”
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