IMRG flags successful September for UK online retailers heading into crucial Black Friday and Christmas seasons

Online retail grew by +3.2% year-on-year in September 2024, the first growth since April 2021, according to UK e-commerce association IMRG. The first two weeks of September drove the market's overall revenue increase.

Clothing retailers experienced their first monthly YoY growth in two years, whilst optimism is increasing among retailers ahead of the crucial Black Friday and Christmas trading seasons.

The September results can be attributed to several online product categories achieving big revenue spikes, most notably across health and beauty, gifting, clothing, and home and garden. Standout performers included accessories and hobbies (+21.6%), makeup (+21.3%), fragrance (+18.4%), footwear (+13.5%), and haircare (+11.3%).

Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director at IMRG, comments: “The start of September is the back t school week, which is a peak of sorts in retail – that one really saw a big uplift this year whereas the other retail event in September, 100 days to Christmas, brought negative growth, though overall the month balanced out in positive.”

“So where does that leave us? After such a long and miserable period of decline, it feels like there are cautious reasons for optimism. We’ve seen a sustained recovery in traffic growth over the past two months, following declines across 2023 and the first half of this year, plus marginally better conversion.”

“So it feels like we are perhaps inching toward more reliable performance for e-commerce, which is great news for retailers approaching peak.”

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Online retail is a key focus area for the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards, which is now open for entries.

The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Key 2024 dates

Friday, 25th October: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 29th October: 2024 shortlist revealed

30th October-6th November: Judging days

Thursday, 21st November: Winners announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London.