UK retailers’ online sales remained resilient, up +2.04 per cent year-on-year in July, despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures and stiff competition from Amazon Prime Day discounting, the latest data from Wunderkind reveals.
Data from Wunderkind’s Marketing Pulse, which analysed over 258.3million shopper journeys, showed that, although July’s web revenues were down -8.42 per cent compared to June – when the UK heatwave prompted a surge in online sales – from a year-on-year perspective, revenues were still up +2.04 per cent in July. Meanwhile, web conversions were also positive year-on-year, rising by +53.5 per cent compared to July 2022.
With consumers becoming increasingly price and promotions-sensitive, recent research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by Retail Insight shows that now 40 per cent of UK shoppers will only make a purchase when an item is discounted or on offer. And this ongoing price and promotions sensitivity helped make Amazon’s annual major discounting event, Prime Day, its largest ever. The marketplace reported that, over the two Prime days (11 – 12 July), customers made £ 2 billion in savings on deals. However, it appears Amazon’s Prime Day gains had a knock-on impact elsewhere, as UK retailers saw a -15.29 per cent week-on-week dip in total eCommerce revenues on Day 1 and a week-on-week downturn of -9.99 per cent on Day 2 of Amazon Prime Day, according to Wunderkind’s Marketing Pulse data.
Turning the attention to web traffic, July 2023 saw a modest (+2.16 per cent) increase in volume of visits to retailers’ sites compared to the preceding month of June. However, compared to July 2022, the increase was much more marked – with traffic to retailer websites up +56.49 per cent year-on-year, signalling that consumers are continuing to be ‘considered’ with purchasing and discretionary spend. This is prompting more browsing before buying, as shoppers hunt to price-match and compare discounts and offers available to ensure they get the best value for money. And these longer purchase consideration and evaluation phases are evidenced in a recent Trustpilot poll, which found the average UK shopper now takes 30 per cent longer to make a purchase than they did just 12 months ago.
“Despite a myriad of challenges – from ongoing cost-of-living pressures and record high-interest rates and amid stiff competition from heavy discounting by Amazon during its Prime Day promotion – online retail sales remained buoyant last month,” Wulfric Light-Wilkinson, general manager (International) of Wunderkind, commented. “And whilst consumer spending has remained resilient, there’s little doubt that retailers and brands are having to work harder for each conversion and fight even harder to keep shopper loyalty once a customer has been acquired. In short, retailers are having to run faster just to stand still. By doubling down on owned channel optimisation, retailers and brands can turn the tide on brand switching, by using personalisation at scale to drive the compelling and meaningful buying journeys that keep shoppers coming back.”
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