November spawns an online monster as UK sales surge
UK online retailers enjoyed a strong start to November, with sales growth up 61% during the first week, the highest year-on-year rate since June and fourth highest this year, according to IMRG research.
The announcement of a second England lockdown on 31st October – and subsequent closure of non-essential stores – is likely to have driven shoppers to get their Christmas purchasing done earlier this year.
Retailers have also launched their Black Friday campaigns earlier than usual, possibly in response to massive increases in site traffic. Of the 320 retailers IMRG is monitoring, on 11st November 11.6% had a campaign live in 2020, vs 3.6% for the same day in 2019.
Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRG, says: “Circumstances appear to be conspiring to make November a very big month for online sales.”
“Black Friday week always is, but this year there was a need to encourage shoppers to do the bulk of their online purchasing a bit earlier, so we can avoid heavy backlogs and delays in proximity to Christmas.”
He concludes: “The fact that people have responded so strongly early in November is very positive in that respect, as it’s best to experience potentially overwhelming volumes now so it can all be processed well in advance of Christmas.”
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