U.K. web sales grew faster than expected in the second quarter, helped by a 20% increase in June that represented the fastest year-over-year growth since June 2011, according to a new report from business and technology consultancy Capgemini and U.K. e-retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).
Over the second quarter, total U.K. online sales jumped 17%, surpassing the Index’s 12% forecast.
The report found that U.K. e-retailers’ sales grew 2.4% in June over the previous month. That’s despite the average order value in June dropping 9.2% year over year, to 79 pounds ($119.46) from 87 pounds ($131.55) in June 2012.
The June growth is the strongest gain since June 2011, and the month-over-month bump is the first time June outpaced May in online sales in five years, the report says.
U.K. online retailers sold 35% more home and garden products in June than in the same month a year earlier and online clothing sales rose 29% year over year, the report says. It suggests good weather contributed to the gains.
Additionally, mobile sales in the United Kingdom soared 136% year over year in June; they were up 8% from May. The conversion rate on mobile devices also rose, to 2.03% from 1.27% in June 2012, as spending via tablets drove that rate closer to the conversion rate on computers, the report says.
The conversion rate gain is a sign that retailers are getting better at luring shoppers to buy via mobile devices, says Oliver Ripley, mobile products manager at London-based e-commerce platform and analytics provider eCommera Inc.
“Modern retailers are investing more in their mobile commerce storefronts—whether that is a browser or app,” he says. “More effort is being put into user interface, the payment experience and so on, making it a far more pleasurable experience for customers who are using mobile services.”
The report provided no spending amounts.