Fuelled by an emerging generation of online shoppers, e-retail spend has been tipped to reach £39 billion in the United Kingdom this year.
In 2014, the 15-24 year-old demographic will be responsible for £5.7 billion spend, which according to retail analyst Verdict’s new E-Retail in the UK report, is something retailers need to start considering when planning their marketing strategy.
Even with this new generation of buyers, online growth in retail is estimated to slow between 2014 and 2019. Verdict expects growth to rise from 7.1% in 2009 to 15.7% in 2019.
Garment growth
Clothing and footwear is likely to be the main retail category behind much of this growth. At present it is the third highest-performing sector, but in 2019 Verdict has it down as being the largest.
An increase in the number of high-value online food and grocery weekly or monthly shops along with bigger ticket items is set to push spend-per-head up by 33.4% over the next five years to 2019.
Desktop remains the primary device for online shopping with a 75.1% share of all transactions. This could explain why only a modicum of purchasing is done on the move. The 15-24 age range is the biggest for mobile shopping, but this only accounts for a mere 3.8% of buys.
For more insights from Verdict, take a look at the infographic below.
