Online sales up 38% in first half

UK shoppers spent over £26.5 billion online in the first six months of this year despite the credit crunch, up 38% on the first half of 2007.

According to figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, 17p in every pound was spent online during the first half of the year. Clothing is faring well out of the reported online boom, with £1.76 bn spent on clothes online by UK shoppers in the first half 2008. James Roper, chief executive and founder of IMRG, said that online shopping growth continues to out-perform the high street and predicted that 30% to 50% of all retail will be online in the next five years. He said: "As tight budgets and poor weather keep people at home where they can shop online for bargains.

"Clothing and footwear sales were the biggest losers in physical stores in June, with sales either flat or lower than last year despite heavy and widespread discounting.

"However, online they were big winners. Internet clothing sales were up 32%, while lingerie sales rose by 37% and footwear 38%." Shoppers spent a record amount on clothes in March, a month-on-month growth of 21.8%, and 31.2% more than March last year.