E-retailers see record low average basket values

Slashed retail prices over the Black Friday period resulted in record low average basket values for numerous online retail sectors, in particular those in the electricals sector.

This is according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, which found that the average basket value in the electricals sector fell to £119 in November – a decrease of 18.5 per cent on October 2016 and a drop of 22.7 per cent on November 2015 – its lowest value since the index started tracking the sector in 2006.

The heavy discounting helped attract shoppers online, with the index recording a year-on-year growth rate of 22.9 per cent in November, spurred largely by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Across the sectors, accessories soared 60.5 per cent, gifts were up 47.2 per cent, lingerie was up 35.8 per cent and clothing was up 24 per cent. The only sector that failed to grow was health and beauty, which was down 4.2 per cent.

Across mobile channels, tablets’ resurgence continued with sales completed on such devices up 12.5 per cent year-on-year. Sales on smartphones continued to perform impressively in 2016, growing 89.2 per cent.

For only the second time this year, the growth in online retail sales made through multichannel retailers exceeded those of the pure plays, by a difference of 9.9 percentage points.

Bhavesh Unadkat, management consultant in retail customer engagement design at Capgemini, said: “Given that Black Friday has peaked year-on-year in the last three years, perhaps it’s no surprise that the Index registered such a strong result in November. What we’re seeing however, is that this surge is actually cannibalising purchases across the peak period. Online sales the week before Black Friday fell an average 7 per cent, while Boxing Day sales have dipped consistently over the last three years.”

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