New numbers from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index show that e-commerce sales for the month of July reached the £5 billion mark.
The figures for July show 18% growth over the same month last year and 14% growth over June, driven in part by strong sales in the travel sector, which also grew 18% compared to 2009 and showed a 32% increase in sales over June.
Alcohol sales were down 9% month-on-month, but were still up 22% over last year. Clothing sales were up 15% and gifts saw a 26% rise while health and beauty and home and garden segments made more modest gains of 7% and 8% respectively.
Sales for multi-channel retailers grew 18% month-on-month, while those of online-only stores only grew 8%.
According to the figures, UK consumers spent an average of £81 each online in July, the highest recorded total thus far.
“With over half of the UK population online at least once a day it is no surprise that online sales continue to grow impressively year on year,” said David Smith, Managing Director of IMRG, adding that high street retailers will need to place greater investment in online marketing as internet retailing moves closer to the centre of their retail strategy.
