Internet sales continue to grow

A recent report by IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showed that online sales in the UK for the first six months of 2009 stood at £22.9 billion with June09 showing a 12% increase over May09.

Whereas high street retail sales have only had a positive growth in one month in 2009, online sales have shown an average 14% year on year growth.

Key sectors showing the most growth were clothing accessories and footwear with 63% and 25% year on year growth respectively and the health and beauty sector also experienced a 31% change over the same period.

Although overall sales have increased, individual website conversion rates continues to drop. This sugegsts that online shoppers are being far more selective in their purchasing and browsing more for the best prices. website conversion rates have declined from 7-8% in 2007, to 5-6% in 2008 and to the current 4-5% in 2009.