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The study from Vouchercodes.co.uk‘s parent company RetailMeNot observed international online shopping trends and found that British online retailers will experience a 16.2 per cent year-on-year sales spike in 2015 to hit 52.3bn, compared to 45bn in 2014.
Web transactions in the UK are set to account for 15.2 per cent of all retail sales in the UK, according to the report. The average spend per online transaction has fallen year-on-year from 57.08 to 55.76, however,” Brits are set to increase the number of sales they make with an average of 21.2 purchases this year, up from 18.8 last year.
Giulio Montemagno, SVP of international at RetailMeNot, said: Investment by retailers in improving the online shopping experience and in more sophisticated consumer targeting is clearly paying dividends.
In the UK, consumers are now shopping online more frequently and spending more overall, helping to increase online retailers market share. This is being bolstered by a growing number of online shoppers; 65.5 per cent of Brits now shop on the web.
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With the average online shopper spending 1,174 in 2015, Brits are dominating the ecommerce trend globally Germans are the second closest continental online spenders at 1,023, while the European average spend is 820. The UK is even ahead of the US average spend of 1,120.
Interestingly, the data has discovered that online sales will actually keep the retail market thriving and power its growth. Store-based sales in Europe are set to fall by 1.4 per cent this year, but the 18.4 per cent online sales rise means that overall retail sales will climb by around two per cent across the continent this year. Observing the UK alone, store-based sales are set to fall by 1.9 per cent but overall retail will rise by 3.5 per cent.
Montemagno, added: Although in-store sales appear to be falling, many retailers are bucking the trend by embracing technology to better engage consumers. In 2015, we expect to see even more retailers take advantage of mobile and further testing of beacon technology to target consumers while they are on the go, as well as in-store, by making the shopping experience more relevant.
Despite online retail seeing the most rapid growth, the high street remains an integral part of the retail landscape. Its for this reason that we are seeing online-only retailers bridge the online and offline gap by opening brick-and-mortar stores and offering services such as click-and-collect to make the shopping experience more seamless, while increasing market share.
On 21 January, we reported that loyalty rewards are the top method for UK retailers to encourage store footfall.
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