UK online clothing sales up 60.9% in April

Despite the gradual easing of lockdown and the reopening of non-essential physical stores , physical retail is recovering, but overall online retail sales in the UK still increased by 10.2% year -on-year in April , with clothing sales increasing by 60.9%.

However, some of the impact of the high street reopening is evident in the data for April versus March 2021, with overall online sales down 12% month-on-month, according to the latest findings from the IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, which tracks the online sales performance of more than 200 retailers.

A more detailed analysis of clothing sales growth shows that womenswear online sales increased by 98.9% year-on-year in April (sales were down sharply in the same period last year -25.1%) . There is no doubt that as governments relax restrictions, socializing and summer vacations will be back on the agenda.

On the other hand, health and beauty sales fell -9% year-on-year in April, while garden and power sales fell -13.3% and -3.7% respectively, providing a strong contrast to the 2020 figures .

Andy Mulcahy, director of strategy and insight at IMRG, said: “While online growth may have fallen from 70-80% between January and March to 10% in April, this is largely due to the comparison between growth rates now and during the pandemic in 2020, which were so strong that it is difficult to build on this performance.”

Retail sales overall appear to be performing well in April, with online growth currently between average and good for this forecast. This will be a tougher test as people have more options to spend in late May and June.

Lucy Gibbs, managing consultant at Capgemini Retail Insight, added: “ Looking at the month-over-month data, we can see the impact of the reopening of the high street. Despite the strong growth, we would normally expect April to be flat compared to March, but this year it was -12% in April. This trend can also be seen by retail type, with multichannel retailers falling to + 5.7% year-on-year in April, while online retailers maintained the same 20% growth as at the start of the year. ”

Currently, apparel continues to rebound, with multichannel and online apparel only up +50% and +70% respectively. Overall, the month has been positive for retail as consumers begin to emerge from their homes. Online business remains key, although there will be challenges in the coming months.

U.K.

Online

clothing