UK’s e-commerce sales pass £300bn Wednesday, 25th May 2011

Eleven years after the UK first set up shop online, sales have now surpassed £300 billion according to the lastest figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).

Launched in April 2000, IMRG’s Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index has been tracking the UK’s progress ever since. The Index uses real sales data from retailers, which estimated the UK’s e-retail market’s worth at £0.8 billion in its first year. Last year its worth came in at £58.5 billion, representing a growth of 6,600 percent since 2000.

IMRG forecasts £696 billion will be spent online in the UK for 2011 alone, predicting the market’s value will double by 2015.

“An estimated £300bn has been spent online in the UK during the 11 years that our Index has been tracking the e-retail market, and with around £70bn estimated to be spent this year, we expect that figure to easily double within four years.” James Roper, chief executive of the IMRG told press.

Leading the way for e-tailers were clothing and electrical lines, coverred by online-only companies such as Asos, Net-a-Porter and Amazon. Recent additions to the sector include beer, wine and spirits, whose sales have grown 825 percent since their inception in February 2002.

Related Stories

• ASOS tops forecast with 43% rise in profit (Thursday, 24th May 2012)
• The drinks are on ASOS (Monday, 6th June 2011)
• One to watch: J. Crew hits the UK (Friday, 15th April 2011)

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Amazon, asos, Capgemini e-Retail Sales, e-commerce, etailer, growth, IMRG, index, james roper, net-a-porter, online, online retail, survey, UK