As shoppers return to the High Street, online sales have fallen for four months in a row, with Amazon reporting a marked slowdown in growth.
But e-commerce expert ParcelHero predicts online will level out at a quarter of all retail sales. That means UK internet sales will be worth around £12.8bn annually.
“Our figure of 25% is a significant fall from the 36.1% of all retail sales that online grabbed last February at the height of lockdown,” said ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks. “However, it’s still a huge increase on the 19% share online used to take, before the pandemic permanently shook up retail.”
ParcelHero’s own research suggests that 46% of consumers have no intention of returning to their pre-covid, High Street spending levels. Indeed, July saw a decrease in retail footfall compared with June.
“Online sales fell 4.7% in June compared to May and they have been falling every month since March, but not at such a rate as to indicate shoppers have abandoned their new online spending habits. As a result, everyone has been trying to assess the new ‘natural order’ and it’s looking like online will permanently secure around a quarter of all retail spending.
SLOWED DRAMATICALLY
“We’ve looked at data from the smallest online marketplace traders to the largest retail behemoths such as Amazon. There’s no doubt the growth in online spending has slowed dramatically, but any retailer trusting that things will return to how they were pre-pandemic will be sadly mistaken.
“At the peak of the pandemic, Amazon was experiencing growth of 41%. In contrast, its gross revenues are expected to grow at ‘just’ 10% to 16% next quarter. That’s a big slowdown but, significantly, the continued projected growth indicates that post-covid shoppers will keep the online habit…
“ParcelHero anticipates there will be something of spending spree on our High Streets during August, as everyone enjoys the ‘Great British Staycation’. However, the return of colder weather this autumn will likely see new concerns about covid-19, flu and other illnesses. Everything points towards long-term equilibrium, with online spending maintaining a 25% hold on the UK’s overall £51.4bn retail spend.
“Ultimately, the fight between online and in-store sales must end in a draw. An omnichannel sales strategy, embracing both shop and online sales, with both services complementing the other, is the only way forward as retail claws its way back from the clutches of the coronavirus.
For ParcelHero’s new study on the High Street of the future go to:https://www.parcelhero.com/research/shop-of-the-future
