ONS Reveals Online Sales Are Up On Last Year

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently released figures showing that online shoppers in the UK have spent up to 13.4% more in June 2014 than they did in the same month last year, Internet Retailing reveals.

Around £728.9 million was spent every week on online retail in June 2014, however this figure is 0.1% lower than the figure recorded for May 2014. This is the first decrease to be recorded since January 2014, in the post-Christmas crash.

June 2013 accounted for around 10.4% of all retail spending, whilst June 2014 enjoyed an increase and accounted for 11.3%; there was also a 3.6% increase in the quantity bought in the retail industry in June of this year, and an increase of 0.1% compared to May 2014. In fact, all retail sectors indicated estimated increases in the quantity bought year-on-year in June 2014.

There was an estimated spend of £35.3 billion on retail goods during the five weeks of June, an increase on the £27.8 billion spent in May 2014 and even up on the £34.1 billion spent in June 2013.

The managing director of VoucherCodes.co.uk, Claire Davenport, noted that retailers will be “cheering” at the news from the ONS that retail spending has increased, but that those in the undustry need to remember not to get ahead of themselves. The cost-of-living still remains a contentious issue, she states, and it could still affect the retail industry.

Other areas that enjoyed a positive outcome were online food sales, which grew by 14.5%, while household item stores witnessed an increase in sales of 5.5%, meaning that it accounted for 5.8% of total retail sales.