Warmer Weather Spurs Online Retail Sales In April

Last months e-commerce received a huge boost from the higher temperatures that tempted Britons to dip into their pockets, fuelling a 16% uptick in sales compared with April 2012.

This is according to estimates from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, which proved that the warmer weather and school holidays can significantly influence the industry, Chris Webster, VP and head of retail consulting technology at Capgemini, commented. The Easter holidays falling in early April and the rise in temperatures in the second half of the month triggered a higher uptake in holidays, home and garden equipment, alcohol and apparel, which all contributed to the index, Webster added.

Mobile also played a key part in e-commerce growth, with purchases made via mobile devices surging 131% on the year. Although this is far below the 243% improvement recorded the previous month, the slowdown does not seem that surprising as the use of m-retail and mobile technology now becomes more widespread, IMRG explained.

The results also show that online-only retailers continued to perform better than those relying on a number of sales channels, exhibiting a 20% rise in revenues against 14% recorded by multi-channel peers. The figures imply that people’s confidence in shopping over the Internet is increasing, fuelling a rise in the adoption of technologies introduced by pureplay traders.

The industry that benefited most from the warmer weather and the Easter holidays was the travel sector, which saw a monthly growth for the first time since the Index started measuring online travel sales in 2009.