Figure was the strongest year on year growth since June 2020, according to latest data.
The first week of November saw a major jump in online retail sales – up 61%, according to new data.
The figure is the strongest year on year growth since June 2020, according to IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, while it was also the fourth highest growth rate so far this year.
The earlier spike is being attributed to retailers launching their Black Friday campaigns earlier this year, as well as, of course, non-essential retailers being closed currently.
Of the 320 retailers IMRG is monitoring, on November 11 11.6% had a live campaign already, versus just 3.6% for the same day in 2019, reported The Industry.Fashion.
“In contrast to some of the more pessimistic forecasting around Black Friday sales, this impressive growth indicates that November is well on track to be a record-breaking month for online retail,” commented Justin Opie, md of IMRG. “While Black Friday is still the peak shopping day of the year, it’s standalone significance is waning as Black Friday has evolved into a month-long sales period.”
Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG, believes that circumstances are conspiring to make November “a very big month for online sales”.
“Black Friday week always is, but this year – with the need to encourage shoppers to do the bulk of their online purchasing a bit earlier, avoiding heavy backlogs and delays in proximity to Christmas, the fact that people have responded so strongly in early November is very positive,” he commented. “It’s best to experience potentially overwhelming volumes now, so it can all be processed well in advance of Christmas.”
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