January sees 75% jump in online shopping

Online shoppers taking advantage of the January sales led to internet sales for the month jumping 75% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to research by industry retail body IMRG.

According to David Smith, head of operations at IMRG, the high result was surprising. “Although we’ve seen growth over the last year and we anticipated growth in January, we weren’t expecting that level,” he said. 

The IMRG Capgemini research found UK online shopping hit a record high for January as online sales reached £4.5bn, up from £2.6bn for January 2007. 

An average of £74 was spent online for every person in the UK. 

Electrical items were the strongest growing sector with a year-on-year climb of 38%, followed by clothing with 32%. Health and beauty also witnessed a rise with growth of 18%, although spending on beers, wines and spirits was not as popular, with a rise of just 9.8%. 

Smith added that the growth in spend was due to a number of factors, including the increase in the number of online shoppers and the level of consumer confidence in shopping on the internet.

www.nma.co.uk Suzanne Bearne 2008-02-21