Online clothing sales up year-on-year for August while menswear excels

The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index show an online clothing sales growth of +9.1% year-on-year for August, while menswear had a particularly strong month with sales hurtling up by +21.9%.

Footwear sales also grew by +7.3%, but total online retail sales had a low growth of just +3% year on year last month, though it is typical for sales to slow at the end of summer. August’s result falls well below the five-year average of +9.5%.

The picture was not so positive for most categories. Both electricals and gifts continued their extended runs of negative growth, recording poor results of -22.5% and -30.3% respectively for August.

Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG, said: “Growth for online sales in 2019 has been well below expectation this year. But it’s not universal bad news – some categories are doing quite well still. In general, retailers are having to work hard to drive sales activity, with the average spend down by around one-third, quite likely due to discounting.”

The IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index tracks the online sales performance of over 200 retailers.