Newsletter 43  Oct 2008

Consumers are spending more on online grocery shopping than any other sector for the first time, according to research by MyVoucherCodes, an online promotional discount code specialist.

It says the top four online shopping sectors are grocery shopping (31 per cent), electronic items (25 per cent), clothing and fashion items (21 per cent) and holiday-related sales (15 per cent). According to respondents of its survey, Tesco leads the market, followed by Sainsbury’s and Asda.

For the record, the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index shows that overall growth in online spending for September was only 14.8 per cent higher than at the same point last year. This might sound a good rate until compared with the 73.2 per cent year-on-year growth for September 2007.

The growth rate has now been under 20 per cent for three consecutive quarters. However, it compares with flat or declining sales on the high street, and therefore continues to represent a relatively buoyant segment of the market.