While July was a big month for sports lovers, it was also a solid month for online sales, with home delivery specialist, Parcelhero, reporting an increase of 2.5% over the previous month.
July was a big month for sports fans, with events including football’s UEFA European Championship, Wimbledon and the start of the Olympics. While Spain won the Euros and Alcaraz and Krejčíková lifted the Wimbledon trophies, online sales also enjoyed their moment in the sun.
“The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales figures for July show that the amount spent online rose by 2.5% over June and by 3.6% compared to July 2023,” commented David Jinks, head of consumer research at Parcelhero. “That’s considerably more than shoppers’ total spend, the sum of all in-store and online sales combined, which rose by 0.7% over the month.
“Online department stores and non-food stores, a category which includes sports equipment stores, topped the tables. Spending on online department stores sites soared by 10.6% thanks to summer discounts, including tempting offers on TVs to lure sports-lovers. Non-food stores took the runners-up prize with a 1.8% jump.
“The proportion of sales made online as a portion of all retail spending increased from 27.4% in June (revised up from 27.1%) to 27.8% in July.”
David continued: “Retail sales volumes (that’s the quantity bought) are estimated to have risen by 0.5% in July, following a fall of 0.9% in June. Department stores saw a 4% jump in the amount they sold compared to June and non-food stores, including those that sell sports equipment, enjoyed a healthy 2.5% rise.”
Parcelhero is hopeful that the Olympics will have boosted retail spending in August, however there is concern that shoppers avoided high streets earlier this month due to public unrest.
David added: “The number of summer shoppers should have soared in early August as school holidays and family day trips started. However, it’s likely that high street sales figures will be notably down on the same period last year. Watch this space for August’s ONS figures.”
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