Pureplay online retailers have continued to see significant growth over the last year, driven by the rise in mobile shopping apps and further moves away from the high street.
According to a new report from RPC, sales at the UK’s largest 20 ecommerce retailers grew 23 per cent to £8.4 billion over the last year.
More than half of this figure came from sales at the UK’s three largest online retailers, Asos, Shop Direct and Ocado, reporting sales of £5.1 billion – up from £4.4 billion a year earlier.
According to RPC’s co-head of retail Jeremy Drew, technological advancements like AI chatbots and augmented reality apps boosted sales.
“The maturing of m-commerce is helping (etailers) super-charge sales,” he said.
“From being virtually unknown five or 10 years ago, many online-only retailers are building strong brands and grabbing more and more market share.”
This was supported by a report from Criteo which found that over half (53 per cent) of inline purchases were made via smartphones in the last quarter of 2017.
RPC also suggested that continued growth in online sales could drive consolidation among the sector’s biggest players.
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