The value of online sales dropped in January, with the fall doubling from 2023.
Sales fell by 7% in the month, up from 3.5% a year earlier, according to the IMRG Online Retail Index.
Home saw a drop of 5.7% and was joined by clothing (-10.8%), beers, wines and sprits (-23.3%), electricals (-8.8%) and gifts (-10.3%). Garden saw grow of 9.2% while health and beauty continued its seven month run of growth with sales up 9.1%.
‘The lockdown period gave us years of data that was heavily skewed, but what we are seeing now is not just a consequence of that any more. The economic situation is dire, demand has been impacted and ecommerce feels like it is no longer immune to tough times but is just as vulnerable as retail more generally and other customer-facing industries,’ says Andy Mulcahy, IMRG strategy and insight director.
