Online H1 retail sales top industry forecast

Spending by shoppers over the internet grew a better-than-expected 19 percent during the first six months of 2011, boosted by helpful weather patterns and the Royal Wedding, an industry body said.

Capgemini and consultants IMRG said yesterday online retail sales totalled £31.5bn in the six months to June 30. That was one percentage point ahead of the body’s 2011 growth forecast made in January.

Growth was attributed to four factors -- shoppers searching online for better deals than the high street, good weather in April which drove earlier than usual summer fashion sales, spending ahead of the Royal Wedding, and the wet summer.

In June itself, £5.3bn was spent online, 21 percent more year-on-year. That compared with a fall of 0.6 per cent on the high street, reported by the British Retail Consortium.