Strongest May growth for online retail since 2010

Warm weather and the royal wedding helped online retail sales soar in May, which recorded the strongest year-on-year growth rate for any month since November 2016.

Last month’s online sales also saw the highest increase for May since 2010.

UK online retail sales up 19.4% year-on-year, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

Additionally, a market conversion rate of 4.8% (compared to 4.6% last year) marked the first year-on-year increase for 2018, reversing a recent trend of decline.

Boosted by scorching temperatures, the FA Cup Final and two bank holidays, the celebratory mood was also reflected in a number of the sector results.

Footwear and garden were the real standouts, recording YoY growth of +54.4% and +40.2% respectively.

During the record temperatures of the first bank holiday week, garden sector growth reached +74%.

Meanwhile, with summer holiday season fast approaching, health & beauty increased by +23.0%.

Bhavesh Unadkat, principal consultant in retail customer engagement, Capgemini: “May is typically a strong month for retail and that was borne out in the results on both sides of the coin. UK sunshine over-indexed in May – coming in 18% higher than the last two years – and temperatures have also resumed after the much colder start to 2018. This has clearly created big wins in the seasonal categories such as Garden and Footwear but there is also a certain degree of optimism felt throughout the sectors driven by the Royal Wedding and the FIFA World Cup.

“According to GfK’s overall Consumer Confidence Index consumer confidence is up +2points versus last month, with a positive outlook for the year ahead despite the uncertain economic backdrop. With this in mind, retailers need to maximise the opportunities around the uplift in customer spending and make the most of influential external factors through relevant messaging and offerings to their customers to secure their market share.”

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