Skip to main content

UK Consumers Spent £5.8B Online in March 2012

Some UK retailers have apparently found a reason for celebration -- even within a historically weak economy. British consumers spent £5.8 billion online in March, 2012 -- that's the equivalent of £114 per person, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. This equates to a year-on-year growth of 14 percent for the e-retail sector and a 9 percent increase on February.

With more and more tech-savvy Brits using smartphones and tablets outfitted with purpose-built applications, shopping via mobile devices has become an important driver of online shopping via the internet.

As a result, mobile retail (m-retail) has recorded huge growth, up a staggering 254% on March 2011 and averaging 300% year-on-year growth for Q1 2012. Interestingly, the conversion rates for mobile  -- those shoppers that visit a retail site via a mobile device and make a purchase from it -- remains very low at 0.7 percent in Q1 2011, increasing to 1.4 percent in Q1 2012, and that's compared to 4.13 percent in March for traditional online website visitor conversions.

This trend strongly suggests that shoppers are primarily using their mobile devices to browse for goods on the move, compare prices in-store or use functions such as store locators. All these mobile shopping statistics are taken from the IMRG Capgemini m-Retail Sales Index, which runs in parallel with the main Index and has been launched this month.

The performance of the e-retail sector adds to an increasing disparity with the high-street, which has continued to struggle. The overall online market saw a 13 percent year-on-year growth during the first quarter of 2012, confirming earlier estimates for the year and a positive indication that the market is doing well -- in spite of the current state of the local economy.

March was given a major boost by the sunny start to spring , which saw fashion-conscious Brits updating their wardrobes, resulting in growth of 15 percent year-on-year and a steep 23 percent month-on-month rise in the clothing sector.

Mothering Sunday was another key driver in March’s strong performance. The gifts sector in particular saw the benefits of shoppers jumping online to buy presents for mum -- leaping 48 percent year-on-year.

Similarly, the health & beauty sector, which includes perfumes and other toiletries, saw a respectable increase of 19 percent on February.

Although confidence in the mobile channel is obviously growing, the average conversion rate of just 1 percent is far lower than that of total e-retail. This may be partly influenced by the context in which mobile engagement can occur, with consumers comparing prices in-store or using store locators on the move for example.

For the e-retail market as a whole, the first quarter has come in at 13 percent growth which is exactly in line with prior forecasts for the year. This is positive news as the growth rates for Q1 in 2011 were very strong so the market is performing well against a high base.

Popular posts from this blog

Demand for Quantum Computing as a Service

The enterprise demand for quantum computing is still in its early stages, growing slowly. As the technology becomes more usable, we may see demand evolve beyond scientific applications. The global quantum computing market is forecast to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). That's a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent. The forecast includes base Quantum Computing as a Service, as well as enabling and adjacent Quantum Computing as a Service. However, this updated forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021, due to lower demand globally. Quantum Computing Market Development In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on inve

AI Semiconductor Revenue will Reach $119.4B

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and/or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will guide Generative AI initiatives within the large enterprise C-Suite. They may already have the technical expertise and experience to understand the capabilities and limitations of Gen AI. They also have the authority and budget to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and talent to support Gen AI initiatives. Enterprise AI infrastructure is proven to be expensive to build, operate and maintain. That's why public cloud service provider solutions are often used for new AI use cases. AI Semiconductor Market Development Semiconductors designed to execute Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads will represent a $53.4 billion revenue opportunity for the global semiconductor industry in 2023, an increase of 20.9 percent from 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The developments in generative AI and the increasing use of a wide range AI-based applications in data c

Global Public Cloud Spending to Reach $1.35T

Most digital transformation is enabled by cloud solutions. Worldwide spending on public cloud services is forecast to reach $1.35 trillion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although annual spending growth is expected to slow slightly over the 2023-2027 forecast period, the market is forecast to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.9 percent. "Cloud now dominates tech spending across infrastructure, platforms, and applications," said Eileen Smith, vice president at IDC . Public Cloud Services Market Development IDC believes that most organizations have adopted the public cloud as a cost-effective platform for hosting enterprise applications, and for developing and deploying customer-facing solutions. Looking forward, the cloud computing model remains well positioned to serve customer needs for innovation in application development and deployment -- including as data, artificial intelligence