UK online retail sales to reach £52.25bn in 2015

Online retail sales are predicted to reach £52.25bn in the UK this year, a 16.2% increase on 2014 when the total stood at £44.97bn, This equates to 15.2% of all retail sales in the UK and means that on average UK consumers will spend £1,174 online in 2015, which would make us the most frequent online shoppers in Europe.

In comparison, the average German is predicted to spend £1,023 while in France the figure is £847.

The figures come from a study conducted by RetailMeNot and the Centre for Retail Research.

The data shows that ecommerce is driving the growth in consumer spending across Europe.

38% of marketers do not use personalisation

From our Conversion Rate Optimization Report, published in partnership with Redeye, this research looks at the types of conversion strategies and tactics organizations are using, in addition to the tools and processes employed for improving conversion rates.

It shows that 62% of client-side respondents are currently personalising their marketing activity.

Do you (or your clients) undertake any form of personalisation in your (or their) marketing activity?

Online voucher code use grows 43% in 12 months

An independent survey of 1,000 consumers commissioned by Voucherbox.co.uk reveals that the number of people who frequently seek out discounts when making purchases online grew by almost half over a 12 month period (from 23% in 2014 to 33% in 2015).

The findings also show that those who ‘always’ use a voucher code when shopping jumped by 70%, up to 17% of all consumers, while ‘regular’ users grew 27%, representing 16% of UK shoppers.

Meanwhile, the number of people who say they have never used an online discount dropped by 15% to just over a third (35%). 8% of those surveyed didn’t know what a voucher or discount code was; a slight decrease on 2014’s figure of 10%. 

How well did click and collect really do over Christmas?

Following on from Postcode Anywhere’s claim that 95% of online shoppers will use click and collect during Christmas, the company has just revisited the research to find that the results are somewhat shy of this prediction. Although it still reflects a growing trend for this method of fulfilment.

  • 47% of UK consumers used click and collect this Christmas
  • Most popular category for this method of delivery was fashion, gadgets and household technology such as TVs
  • Least popular goods for purchase using Click and Collect included the more bulky items such as furniture and kitchenware, with only 3% of shoppers using this delivery method.

Read the following article to find out exactly what we learnt about click and collect this Christmas.

Satisfaction not guaranteed

Customer satisfaction in the UK has plunged to its lowest point since 2010, according to the Institute of Customer Service.

Retailers John Lewis and Amazon have topped the charts for delivering high levels of customer satisfaction however. Southern Water, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities registered the largest improvement in satisfaction score over the past year.

Retailers could do more for mobile shoppers

Somo has analysed the mobile capabilities of the top 50 high street retailers, finding that:

  • 40% do not have a mobile optimised store locator.
  • 20% don’t have a transactional mobile site.
  • 30% don’t have an iOS app.
  • 28% don’t have an Android app.
  • 44% do not have a tablet optimised site.
  • 46% don’t support responsive web design. 

Online vs. in-store shopping

Nextopia has shared the following infographic on why consumers prefer online shopping, including such stats as 44% of shoppers surveyed said they are more likely to purchase online if they are able to pick up in-store, and that 62% are more likely to shop online if they can return an item in-store.

Eight out of 10 consumers will shop online more if offered free shipping

New data from Walker Sands reveals that the offer of free shipping and returns goes a long way, with consumers saying they’d not only shop online more frequently and across more product categories, but would also buy expensive items online without seeing them first.

  • 76% of consumers now say they would spend more than $100 online on a product without seeing it first, up from 70% in 2013. 
  • Free shipping (83%) continues to be the top reason consumers say they would shop more online.
  • Free returns can help drive higher ecommerce sales for big-ticket items – nearly three times as many consumers (27% vs. 10%) would purchase a product online costing more than $1,000 without seeing it first, if returns were free.

Personalised recommendations help conversion

A new study by Barilliance indicates that up to 31% of ecommerce site revenues were generated from personalised product recommendations during Q4 2014.

  • The conversion rate of visitors who clicked on product recommendations was found to be 5.5 times higher than the conversion rate of non clicking customers.
  • Above the fold recommendations were found to be 1.7 times  more effective than below the fold recommendations.
  • Out of the 20+ product recommendations types that were reviewed in this study, the most engaging recommendation type  was ‘what customers ultimately buy’.
  • The Click-through rate (CTR) of personalised ‘Top Sellers’ recommendations was found to be two times more effective than the CTR of global (non personalised) ‘Top Sellers’ recommendations. 

(Click on the image below for larger infographic)

Online retail sales figures increase

Online retail sales increased by 7% year-on-year in January, according to data from IMRG and Capgemini.

However there was a huge variation between different sectors.

The electrical and home & garden categories, which saw the biggest discounts on Black Friday, both recorded a 9% drop on January 2014.

But thanks to the cold weather, plus the introduction of many new lines, clothing saw a 14% year-on-year increase; accessories and footwear surged 40% and 20% respectively.

The travel sector also recorded a strong January, with online sales reaching 21% growth year-on-year. 

Shopify’s year in review

Shopify has published its year in review, revealing some interesting trends based on the 140,000+ businesses that use its platform.

In 2014, one third of ecommerce orders came from a mobile device rather than a computer

In 2014 ecommerce orders coming from social media grew 202%

The most popular time to buy online is weekdays between 12-2pm and on Sunday evenings.

Growth in mobile commerce

Data from Ipsos and PayPal shows that mobile shopping is growing at nearly four times the rate of overall online spending in the UK.

From 2013-2016, the UK average compound annual growth rate for mobile spend is projected at 36% vs. 10% for overall online spend.

However this is mainly due to the relatively small base size for mobile commerce.

As a percentage of UK online spending, smartphone shopping accounts for on average 8% of online spending while shopping on tablets accounts for only 6%. In comparison, laptops, desktops and notebooks together account for 86%. 

For loads more up-to-date statistics…

Download Econsultancy’s Internet Statistics Compendium, a collection of the most recent statistics and market data publicly available on online marketing, ecommerce, the internet and related digital media.

It’s updated monthly and covers 11 different topics from advertising, content, customer experience, mobile, ecommerce and social.