UK shoppers spent £10 billion online in August, new data from Adobe showed on Tuesday, continuing a summer spending spree and hopefully setting the channel up for continuing healthy spend as the Golden Quarter approaches.
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That £10 billion came with 2.2% year-on-year growth, although spend was down a massive 6.4% compared to July, when the four-day Prime Day shopping event caused online spending to spike as Amazon cut prices and many competitors did likewise.
The report also said that shoppers spent a hefty £1.57 billion online through Buy Now Pay Later services in August, although this was down 1.26% year on year. But even with the drop, it means a large number of consumers were deferring payments.
That was despite year-on-year prices falling by as much as 7.6%. Admittedly, prices rose month on month as they returned to more normal levels after the Prime Day promotional period in July, but August clothing prices were down as much as 11.8% compared to a year earlier.
Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said: “August’s online spending figures are a return to the growth levels we’ve seen for much of this year, hovering around the 2% mark after a major boost in July thanks to the Prime Day event. Retailers will be hopefully that growth continues through the autumn, setting them up for a strong holiday period.”
