UK online retail sales fell 5.6% in April

According to the latest data from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK retail sales jumped 9.2% in March , 43% higher than retail sales in April 2020 , the first month of the UK lockdown last year .

While online retailers have been hailed as the biggest winners from the pandemic over the past year , with sales up 56% year-on-year, online retail spending saw its first significant drop in April, suggesting the online sales boom may soon fade.

Susannah Streeter, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Total retail sales and the quality of purchases were up 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, clearly demonstrating pent-up demand, driven by the novelty of consumers spending in physical stores rather than virtually.”

People added fewer items to their virtual shopping baskets online, leading to a 5.6% drop in online spending in April. The proportion of online spending fell to 30% from 34% in March . " This is because real shopping has replaced the trend of browsing digital stores from the comfort of your sofa. "

Separate data from EY shows a similar decline in online retail, but suggests consumers will now demand more of both mediums.

Sylvia Linden, retail leader at EY UK, explains: “The reopening of physical stores has led to a corresponding fall in online sales. But beyond the initial excitement about returning to shops, consumers will continue to shop in-store and online and will become increasingly demanding of the service they receive.”

David Jinks, head of consumer research at ParcelHero, said while it was a long-awaited win for the high street, retailers should not rely too much on a recovery in in-store spending.

He said : “There is no doubt that the success of the UK’s vaccination campaign has greatly increased public confidence. However, any retailer relying solely on increased footfall on the high street must realise that it is impossible to knock out online shopping. Successful stores must make e-commerce a key part of an integrated sales strategy. Online sales were still up 31.9% compared to April 2020, a year ago, when the British were just beginning to turn to the web en masse. ”

ParcelHero’s own independent research shows that 46% of consumers do not plan to spend as much in shops as they did before the pandemic . This is backed up by data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for April.

U.K.

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