Despite a fall in sales in August, eCommerce is here to stay

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG monthly sales monitor found that non-food online sales dropped 4.6% in August, with 38.3% of sales now online compared to 42% during the same month a year earlier.

Samantha Mansfield, head of strategy at LiveArea EMEA, made the following comment: 

“A fall in the proportion of online shopping was inevitable post-lockdown. 

However, these figures prove is that eCommerce is here to stay. Consumers now expect all brands to offer an effective, memorable experience online, and have no issue with dropping those that don’t.

In the year to come, a successful retail strategy, irrespective of the products, must be omnichannel – a strong website supported by other digital and physical channels.

Retailers have had to reinvent themselves over the past year, with most seeking to end their reliance on bricks-and-mortar alone. The reinvention cannot stop here – brands must continue to innovate to remain relevant and competitive in an ever-increasingly saturated market.”