15% rise in online sales in May, says ONS

Of interest to many Prolog e-fulfilment clients will be the official figures recently published showing a 15.1% rise in online sales among British retailers in May. According to the latest ONS Retail Sales Bulletin, £727.5m was spent each week online during the month, a 15.1% increase on a year earlier. 11.4% of all retail spending took place online, compared to May 2013, when ecommerce sales accounted for a mere 10.3% of all retail expenditure.

Retail as a whole saw improved sales compared to a year earlier, but less impressive figures than those recorded last month. The ONS estimated a 3.9% increase in the quantity bought in May 2014 compared to the same point the previous year, with the amount spent seeing a 3.2% annual rise. Volumes dropped by 0.5% between April and May, but quarterly figures pointed to a 1.3% heightening in sales for the fifteenth month in a row - which ONS described as the "longest period of sustained growth since November 2007."

Department stores saw greater spending among online shoppers, with an annual increase of 26.5% being recorded for sales in that sector. Of all department store retail sales, 10.5% now happen on the Internet. There were also rises in the amount Internet shoppers spent on textiles, clothing and footwear - by 17.6%, meaning that they made up 11.3% of all retail sales - and household goods, a 3.5% increase here leading them to account for 5.9% of all sales. However, in the 'other' category of stores, there was actually a 15.7% decline in online sales, which constituted 6.5% of all sales.

Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays, commented: "May's temperamental weather resulted in many people preferring to shop online to avoid the drizzle, with consumers splashing out on sporting goods in anticipation of the World Cup kicking off this month. Recent news that inflation has fallen to its lowest level in almost five years is a boon for retailers – another positive sign that will help bolster consumer spending power in the months ahead."