Better-than-expected online sales lifted the ecommerce market by 17.5% in December, according to the IMRG. The ?strong finish? meant the internet retailing market grew by 14% in 2012, compared to 2011, the etail association said in the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index for December.
IMRG [IRDX VIMR] is now predicting growth of 12% in 2013, when it expects ?87bn will be spent online, up from the estimated ?78bn spent in 2012.?Mobile commerce lifted off in 2012, with sales up by 304% on 2011.
?It was a very strong finish to the year for the online retail industry,? said Andrew McClelland, chief operations and policy officer at IMRG, ?with growth coming in above expectation after a solid first half of the year.?
He added: ?In spite of continued tough trading conditions as consumers concentrate on paying down debt, we are forecasting 12% growth for the market in 2013 as consumers look to get maximum value from every transaction.?
The IMRG research detected an unusual fall in the rate at which website visitors convert to buyers. Usually this rate would rise by around 1% between November and December but in 2012 it fell slightly. IMRG believes this suggested online research was now becoming a part of all buying decisions, whether the final purchase happened online or offline.
?Consumers are going to carry out a lot of research prior to making a purchase, so in order to secure their custom the challenge to retailers is around providing both the value and the experience that will make them stand out from the competition,? said McClelland.
Chris Webster, head of retail and technology at Capgemini [IRDX VCPG], said Christmas 2012 had been ?solid if unspectacular? and helped to compensate for ?an otherwise challenging year.?
He said ?staggering? rise of mobile commerce would continue in the year ahead. ?Visits and sales from either a smartphone or a tablet device are nearly four times higher than last year,? he said. ?We are reaching a point where we are spending longer on our phones shopping than making calls. This year we?ll see the role of mobile devices evolve as retailers use the technology as the default channel to reach us and personalise our shopping experience, whether we?re online at home, on the bus or even in store.?
Gareth Jones, group retail and strategy director at Shop Direct Group [IRDX RSDG], said: ?Looking back at 2012 as a whole, the big themes of the year were mobile and personalisation and both will continue to be at the forefront of our ecommerce strategy for 2013 and beyond. In particular, the rapid adoption that we are seeing among customers of the more mobile 7? tablet offers exciting new opportunities to connect with customers wherever and whenever they choose to shop.?
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