The latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) report has confirmed better than expected November retail sales figures which defied the gloomy predictions of many analysts.
Overall spending was up by 5% year-on-year in November, with online spending continuing to drive retail growth as e-commerce sales soared by 13.1% compared to November 2017.
“The most significant result was that for the first time ever, UK internet sales grabbed over 20% of all retail, with ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, commenting: “Online sales took 21.5% of all consumer spending in November, a trajectory we believe will continue to grow rapidly through 2019.”
Explains David: “ASOS’ gloomy November figures had us braced for a poor month, especially as it was widely acknowledged that Black Friday sales had under-performed. However, online sales this November were actually up 13.1% on last November and soared by 36.3% compared to the previous month.”
He continues: ‘Retailers will be giving a sigh of relief that shoppers did actually spend 5% more this November than in 2017, and 1.5% more than in October; but, once again, these sales are being driven by online spending. 21.5% of our November pre-Christmas spend was online and our research reveals that, within a decade, half of all our purchases will be online.”
Top: According to analysts, online shopping will continue grow rapidly in 2019.
