UK: February floods lead to rise in ecommerce sales

Water levels rose and high street sales fell in February. But the water level wasn’t the only thing to rise – online sales did, too.

Non-food item sales rose by 14.3% in the UK in February compared to the same period last year, accounting for 17.5% of all retail sales, according to the British Retail Consortium’s Online Retail Sales Monitor.

At the same time, high street sales fell by 1% as shoppers headed online rather than brave the flood waters and storms.

“Online sales continued to show strong growth in February for what is generally a relatively quiet, mid-season month. Overall the 17.8% sales growth average from the last three months is significantly higher than the 12-month average of 12.7%,” said Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium.

“These figures underline the importance of retailers’ omnichannel offers, with online sales boosting what would otherwise have been declining sales figures for half of all categories.”