E-commerce sales remain buoyant during April

UK consumers are becoming increasingly happy to shop online

The UK e-commerce market shows no signs of slowing down, according to the latest monthly e-Retail Sales Index from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) and Capgemini.

Online spending topped £4.4bn in the UK in April, representing an expected dip of three per cent after a surge in sales in March caused by Mothering Sunday.

However, the impact of the volcanic ash cloud caused a nine per cent decrease in online travel ticket sales during April as people became wary of booking flights in advance, said IMRG.

Despite this, e-commerce sales remained buoyant as businesses continued to entice consumers to shop online, according to Chris Webster, vice president of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini.

"Online retail is seeing continued high growth levels of 13 per cent, as more retailers use an online channel to attract a new market and retain existing customers," he said.

The report found that sales for retailers with a high-street and online presence had risen a whopping 22 per cent compared to last year, underlining the importance of effective multichannel strategies.

However, web-only firms saw a sales increase of just six per cent compared to the same month in 2009.

This matches the trend seen throughout the first quarter of 2010, in which sales for online-only retailers grew at lower levels than those for companies with high-street and online presences.