For the first time on record, more than a fifth of non-food sales took place online this November. How have the UK’s consumer habits changed?
For the first time since records began, Britons have bought more than a fifth of all non-food sales via the web.
Data published by the British Retail Consortium showed that families conducted more than 30pc of clothing, furniture and appliances purchases online this November.
While internet traffic has become increasingly important, bricks and mortar retailing has still been responsible for providing much of the grunt.
Physical stores have been responsible for a great proportion of total sales growth, although this share has declined in recent months.
We’re more than happy to buy shoes online
As a nation we’ve become more comfortable to make online purchases generally, but there remains a clear divide in the kinds of products we’ll order.
More than a third of all shoes are now sold on the internet, and a quarter of clothing.
But health and beauty products, as well as homewares, lag other items.
These seem to be the goods we enjoy shopping for in person – perhaps the sort of items shoppers feel they need to try before they buy.
What made November special?
Transatlantic imports helped to buoy retailers last month – in the form of shopping holidays.
Deals aplenty were on offer to give outlets a kick before the main festive season.
Black Friday, traditionally intended to lure US shoppers out of their homes after Thanksgiving, and its online counterpart Cyber Monday, both shaped the retail landscape.
Clothing led online sales, followed by furniture and appliances to push the total volume of web purchases over a fifth of all sales.