New figures illustrate importance of online
Online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 13.4% in September versus a year earlier, on a weighted basis. In September 2012, the unweighted RSM non-food non-store indicator had increased by 9.9% over the previous year.
In September, online sales represented 17.5% of total non-food sales of our monitor, the highest penetration rate this year. Excluding online sales, Clothing and Footwear would have shown a decline in September.
September's online sales growth was lower than August's record but was more impressive, given the strong comparative of last year. All categories contributed to growth but over half came from the Other Non-Food category.
Online sales contributed 1.3 percentage points to the growth of Non-Food total sales last month. In the last three months, the contribution averaged 1.1 percentage points - a third of the total non-food retail growth.
Helen Dickinson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said: "For the first time, the BRC and KPMG are publishing detailed online sales data, which will be included every month to support our industry leading sales monitor. This is a fascinating month to analyse online data for the first time, because it shows that one third of non-food sales growth comes from online purchases, and that without the growth we have seen in online sales, we would actually have recorded declines in sales of clothing and footwear this month.
"The online penetration rate, or share of the market, reached a record level in September. This highlights the growing importance of understanding online sales and the need for the BRC-KPMG Online RSM's robust new data. To succeed today, retailers are investing not only in an outstanding product offering but also in ever-evolving ways to reach customers in the online world."
David McCorquodale, Head of Retail, KPMG, said: "Online sales continued to soar in September and achieved another month of double digit growth. Electricals and back to college items helped to drive growth, but unseasonably warm weather also prompted consumers to browse online for the lighter-weight pieces of clothing, checking the latest trends of the season and making full use of the ever-increasing click-and-collect options. This demonstrates the vital role online can play for retailers during the transition between seasons.
"Retailers have also invested significantly to ensure their omni-channel processes can meet consumer demand and this is reflected in the penetration levels, which have now reached their highest level seen so far this year."