UK online spend is set to reach £75bn by in next five years
According to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, UK online spend is set to reach £75bn by 2024, rising 30.4 per cent over the next five years.
The company’s latest report, ‘UK Online Retailing 2019-2024’, reveals that the online channel is forecast to account for 19.8% of UK retail spend by 2024, with clothing & footwear remaining the largest product sector as retailers continue to provide a seamless online shopping experience.
While the online channel making up only a small proportion of the food & grocery market (7.3 per cent in 2019), this sector will be the biggest contributor in terms of online value growth over the next five years, rising £5bn to reach £16.2bn, making it the second largest product category behind clothing and footwear.
Sofie Willmott, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, commented: “Clothing specialists continue to develop their online proposition with many players now offering easy to use credit options like Clearpay and Klarna’s buy now, pay later, driving online conversion and giving shoppers another reason to choose the online channel over stores.
“As growth in physical store sales continues to elude many retailers, particularly in non-food product sectors, investment should be focused online to ensure websites and fulfilment options are constantly improved, in order to remain competitive.”
