Online shoppers don’t proceed to checkout in Jan
THE BLACK Friday and Christmas shopping bonanza has led to a slow-down in online retail sales in January, according to the latest monthly figures from industry analysts IMRG and Capgemini.
Sales slumped by 25 per cent compared with the previous month as consumers recovered from the festive shopping period, the IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales index out yesterday showed.
Online shoppers spent seven per cent more in January compared with 12 months ago, however, this was well short of forecasts for 12 per cent growth for the year as a whole.
“Growth is being held back slightly by other categories, such as electrical and home and garden, which have seen sluggish sales since Black Friday,” Capgemini’s Alex Smith-Bingham said.
However, other categories such as travel enjoyed a surge in sales as consumers began booking their holidays for the year. Online travel sales were up 21 per cent year-on-year and 183 per cent on December.
Shoppers spent £81 per transaction – the highest since January 2011 – which suggests less discounting in the period.