Spring in step of online shopping as sales soar

Consumers spent 4.5bn online in March, up 15 per cent compared with a year earlier, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

The arrival of spring led shoppers to spend 42 per cent more on home and garden-related purchases in March compared with February, while sales of clothing increased by 27 per cent compared with the month earlier.

Travel sector sales fell by 9 per cent compared with February following the annual flurry of Christmas and ski holidays.

But year-on-year sales rose by 14 per cent, suggesting Britons were abandoning 'staycations' as consumer confidence improved.

Capgemini retail consulting and technology vice-president Chris Webster said: "These are solid figures, and prove the continued resilience of online retail.

"As the weather starts to improve, this is having an impact on sales of garden furniture as people plan for summer barbecues."

IMRG spokeswoman Tina Spooner said: "The 15 per cent yearly growth in online sales is very positive and is evidence that e-retail continues to outperform the high street."

The index shows that retailers with both an online and a store presence are performing most strongly, with sales up 28 per cent year on year. Sales for retailers with just an online presence rose by just 1 per cent.

n Broadband users are paying less for faster speeds but are still unhappy about customer service, a report claimed.

Broadband bills are 4 per cent lower than last year and speeds 33 per cent faster, but just six out of 10 users are satisfied with customer service, according to the annual uSwitch Broadband Customer Satisfaction Report.

The poll of more than 7,500 broadband customers found the average bill is 167, down from 175 last year, with the average speed jumping from 4.2Mb to 5.7Mb.

Overall broadband satisfaction has climbed 2 per cent to 79 per cent, but just 62 per cent of those polled were satisfied with customer service.

Consumers voted O2 the best provider for the second year running, with 92 per cent of customers saying they were satisfied overall. AOL, Orange and BT held the bottom three spots in overall satisfaction for the second year running.

Orange was voted the worst provider, scoring 70 per cent for overall satisfaction. A quarter of users (24 per cent) said they were dissatisfied with the level of customer service.

O2 scored the highest among customers for value for money (93 per cent), while BT scored the worst at 63 per cent.

Overall satisfaction with broadband speed dropped from 73 per cent to 71 per cent, suggesting providers were failing to keep up with the applications now available to consumers, uSwitch said.

Fewer than half (49 per cent) of all customers believed their provider had placed them on the most appropriate plan.