Positive online shopping figures for January have highlighted how important it is for retailers to have an online presence, not just a high street one.
According to internetretailing.net, the KPMG and British Retail Consortium (BRC) Online Retail Sales Monitor revealed that online sales of non-food products rose by 19.2 per cent in January, compared to the same period in 2013. The transaction growth is the strongest seen in January since 2009.
Moreover, online purchases accounted for 17.4 per cent of all non-food sales made in the first month of this year and Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC, believes that this figure will continue to rise.
“Embracing omnichannel sales has been a big driver of business for UK retailers,” she said. “We’ve seen an ever-more discerning customer taking good advantage of click and collect and other innovative services. The combination of an online presence with a bricks and mortar offering is becoming increasingly compelling.”
She added that convenient collection services and faster delivery times are partly why online shopping will continue to become a more popular way to shop.
It is also believed that the sharp rise in sales seen in January is thanks to the improving housing market, as furniture items performed particularly well last month, reports ibtimes.co.uk.
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