Online retail sales in July continued their declining trend seen throughout the summer, although the drop eased somewhat compared with previous months.

Overall online sales fell by 9.6% in July compared with the same period in 2020, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini Retail Index.

 

Sales growth for the month of July was below the rolling six- and 12-month averages of 13.44% and 29.9% respectively, but above the most recent three month average of -10.63%.

The month was also the strongest of the summer so far, following on from the steepest drops in online activity ever recorded by IMRG in May and June respectively. 

This recovery was highlighted by the week-on-week breakdown, which showed a 14% drop in sales in the first week of July compared with a 5.5% fall in the last week of the month. 

While overall sales were down, IMRG also noted that average basket volumes for the month were £134 – the highest total spend in 2021 and a 60% increase on the same period in 2020. 

In terms of categories, online sales of beers, wines and spirits shot up 29.9%, while at the other end of the spectrum health and beauty sales plummeted 36.1%.

IMRG strategy and insight director Andy Mulcahy said: “In July 2021, month-on-month growth was ahead of where it usually is at this point of the year, with the amount spent online declining by 4.4% against June, whereas -8% was typical in 2020 and 2019.

“For the previous three months, the month-on-month rate has tracked below where it would normally be as shopper spend has been redistributed across other areas following the phased easing of restrictions.

“Perhaps the ‘pingdemic’ has played a role here as so many people were forced into isolation, but it’s also tempting to suggest that we might be starting to see what the much-feted ‘new normal’ will actually look like from a retail perspective.

“If that month-on-month measure is starting to plot the established trading patterns that naturally go up and down at various times of year, the question of how much volume will stick online following the pandemic will have been answered.”

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