December was the finest month for U.K. e-commerce in 2019. Online retail sales saw a sharp increase to 9.4% year-on-year growth in December, according to the current Online Retail Index, jointly published by Capgemini and British e-commerce consortium IMRG.For the quarter, online sales taped a growth rate of 11.3%, bucking a general down trend in retail.In the 3 months to December, total sales fell by 1.0%, according to the Workplace of National Stats. However, December marked a distressing
trend for stores and online merchants alike. According to the IMRG report, December sales growth fell sharply versus November, down -20.0%month-on-month, the biggest December reduction given that Black Friday initially actually got widespread attention in the U.K. in 2013. And even the record sales efficiency of e-commerce players in November(
up 16.4%year-on-year )was not sufficient to make up for a 20%month-on-month decline in December. In general, the year ended on a somber note for U.K. e-commerce, as the sector tape-recorded
its most affordable annual growth rate on record with 6.7 %. Online pure-players were the one bright area in the middle of a struggling sector, according to Lucy Gibbs, handling consultants-retail insights at Capgemini.”There was a significantly stronger performance by pure online just merchants in contrast to the more conventional players, who
failed to seize the development when they possibly require it most, causing a total development of +4.8% this year against last year compared to a more healthy +10.0%for online just, stated Gibbs. “If online retail in 2018 was characterised by strong growth in the first half and weak in the 2nd, 2019 is the year when Black Friday quite potentially papered over retail’s cracks,”commented IMRG’s insights director Andy Mulcahy.”Need was low previously in the year, especially over the summer season, and development for the year was performing at just +4.9 %up to October. A strong December, albeit versus weak year-on-year development in 2018, off the back of an explosive November have actually made the full-year outcome look much better at 6.7 %; lower than our projection of 9%, however no place near as bad as looked a few months’ back.” Mulcahy likewise anticipated a renewal of online shopping in the first 3 months of 2020, due to renewed customer confidence after Brexit, as well as a number of significant sporting events
during the year.