Shoppers heading online in run up to Christmas - BRC

According to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, 19.1 per cent of non-food sales took place online - the highest since November 2014.

It comes as retailers begin to prepare for high volumes of online sales over the next month, with festive promotions Black Friday and Cyber Money just weeks away.

The growth of non-food sales web sales slowed to 9.2 per cent last month, compared to 15.4 per cent in October 2014.

October’s results were behind the three-month and 12-month averages of 10.3 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively.

Online sales contributed 1.5 percentage points to the year-on-year growth of non-food sales, while stores contributed “relatively little”, the BRC said.

Despite the slowdown in growth, October’s performance reflected the trend of increasing online sales in the run-up to Christmas, BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.

She said: “The deep penetration rate can be partially attributed to customers looking for an online bargain in October’s sales.

“Consumers know that retailers’ websites are always striving to optimise usability, making online a sought after destination to hunt for items on promotion.”

David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG added: “With important promotional e-commerce days coming up in November, retailers will be making sure their websites and fulfilment operations are ready to handle any fireworks on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.”