Online sales in the U.K. grew by more than 12 percent in May, outshining the growth brick-and-mortar shops saw during the same month.
Total retail sales in May increased just 3.4 percent, but online sales increased more than 12 percent, according to the British Retail Consortium, a trade association. Sunny weather in the later weeks of the month, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee—an event celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 60-year reign—and bad weather in April may have helped boost sales.
“It’s likely the prolonged wet period helped create pent-up demand and people also felt more relaxed about their spending as the sun created a feel-good boost,” says Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium. “Small numbers of customers buying jeans and knitwear in the first weeks of May became many more people purchasing skirts, shorts and swimwear by the end of the month.”
He adds that women’s wear had its best growth this year, while garden stores saw a “boom” in the number of people who bought new lawnmowers in May.
Robertson notes that the “sharpest” growth in online sales continued to come from shoppers buying on their mobile devices.
“A number of retailers are encouraging smartphone use in their stores, which is feeding into this trend,” he adds.
