Online spend soars in July

Online fashion and footwear sales grew by 23% in July as people opted to shop from the comfort of their living rooms in the wet weather, while also taking advantage of special offers on websites.

Total online spend rose 11.3% against June to £4.8 billion, which works out at an equivalent spend of £79 for every person in the UK, according to the IMRG Capgemini Index, which measures online sales.

Against July 2007, online sales were up 15.2%, and within that fashion, footwear and accessories sales recorded an uplift of 25.9% online. However, accessories sales recorded a 29.5% slump on the previous month.

The online sales rise is in stark contrast to the British Retail Consortium's figures for overall high street sales in July, which fell 0.9% on a like-for-like basis against July 2007.  
Mike Petevinos, head of consulting for retail at Capgemini UK, said: "The increase in clothing/footwear sales demonstrates consumers' growing familiarity with etailing."

About 60 etailers and retailers contributed data to the IMRG Capgemini Index including Arcadia Group, Asos, John Lewis, and Otto UK.

Fashion etail sales figures

                             July 08 v July 07     July 08 v June 08
Total market           +15.2%                 +15.2%
Clothing, footwear   +25.9%                 +22.8% 
and accessories
Footwear                +17.1%                 +1.6%
Accessories             -29.5%                  +15.1%
Lingerie                 +39.1%                  +3.6%