The UK online retail channel is set to grow 30.4% over the next five years, to be worth £75 billion (€88.2 billion) by 2024, a new study by GlobalData has found.
The UK Online Retailing 2019-2024 report claims that he online channel will account for close to a fifth (19.8%) of retail spend by 2024, with the clothing and footwear categories leading the way in terms of penetration.
Food and Grocery
However, the food and grocery sector (of which online currently comprises 7.3% of the market), is likely to be the biggest contributor in terms of online value growth over the next five years, the study found.
The value of the online grocery channel is set to rise £5.0 billion (€5.88 billion) to reach £16.02 billion (€19.05 billion) by 2024, making it the second largest category behind clothing and footwear.
According to GlobalData, this increase in online penetration is likely to be boosted by consumers seeking greater convenience, becoming more comfortable with buying products online, and improved fulfilment times across the major grocers.
Greater Investment
“As growth in physical store sales continues to elude many retailers, particularly in non-food product sectors, investment should be focused online to ensure websites and fulfilment options are constantly improved, in order to remain competitive," commented Sofie Willmott, lead retail analyst at GlobalData.
Data in the study was taken from GlobalData’s 'e-retail survey' of 10,000 nationally representative online shoppers.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine
