Online sales growth strong in February as clothing sales rise

Online sales rose 69.5% year on year, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Sales Index, which tracks the online sales performance of more than 200 retailers.

Though this was lower than the all-time high of 74% growth in January, it was still well above the rolling three-, six- and 12-month averages of 57.1%, 42.5% and 42.7% growth year on year respectively.

As the government revealed its roadmap out of lockdown and consumers prepared for more outdoor freedoms, categories including beer, wine and spirits, and home and garden climbed by 64.7% and 131% respectively.

Clothing sales also performed better than throughout the pandemic, with online growth up 21.3% compared with the previous month.

Capgemini retail insight managing consultant Lucy Gibbs said: “February growth remains strong as we near a full year since the pandemic closed the high street for the first time.

“Online growth has been highest in this third national lockdown; however, as we approach the year-on-year comparisons against the swings of 2020, we are likely to see some interesting metrics play out over the next few months.

“On the positive side of things, pent-up demand will benefit sectors such as clothing, where spending has been low throughout the pandemic. Increased reasons to refresh wardrobes and social events making their way back on to the calendar will also provide a much-needed boost and hopefully a strong performance for 2021.”

IMRG strategy and insight director Andy Mulcahy added: “It’s become common for people to look for the ‘new normal’ across industries, but it might be too early to be focusing on that. Instead, it is more useful to think of a ‘current normal’ as things are still so unpredictable and susceptible to sudden shifts in customer behaviour.

“For example, even though there is a roadmap out of lockdown and the vaccination programme is going well, it’s difficult to anticipate exactly how people will behave as restrictions are eased.

“The current normal in retail is for sustained pandemic-high growth rates across almost every product category. That rate of growth cannot be sustained once we get into April, but the extent to which spend will be diverted strongly away to ‘experience’ options, such as travel, going out, live events, etc is a very tough question to answer.”