Black Friday leads to best online sales month of the year

A powerful surge in online sales during the borrowed retail promotional day 'Black Friday' led to an all-time record high of digital sales of non-food products in the UK during November, singling it out as the top month of online sales.

According to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, the boost in non-food online sales from Black Friday caused a 12 percent growth in November compared to one year ago, bringing the three month average of online penetration to 11.6 percent.

"Online orders reached record breaking penetration levels this November"

Despite the slow start to the month, online sales increased 1.4 percent year-on-year, with the proportion of non-food products purchased online achieving an a record high penetration of 21 percent. According to the BRC and KPMG, the non-food online growth nearly came to a standstill during the week prior to Black Friday in anticipation of the deals.

“Online orders reached record breaking penetration levels this November, as shoppers snapped up a bargain in the Black Friday sales,” noted David McCorquodale, Head of Retail, KPMG, with online clothing sales reaching a record high point of penetration at 25.3 percent.

However digital footwear sales managed to surpass all other categories, reaching a penetration of 33.8 percent, after falling behind for the first three weeks of the month. “This month brings fantastic news for retailers who have worked hard on their online presence, as the online penetration rate of non-food sales is at an all-time record,” commented director general of the BRC, Helen Dickinson.

“Every 1 pound in 5 pounds of non-food purchases is spent online. Online sales are also contributing a larger proportion of growth to non-food sales compared to in-store. Black Friday was the retail event of the month and retailers offered consumers impressive discounts both online and in-store. Online sales growth was good for the month but there may have been a distortion caused by Black Friday with consumers delaying purchases until the end of the month in the hope of grabbing some bargains.”

McCorquodale added that many retailers online systems were unable to handle the “weight of consumer demand,” which lead to many websites crashing under the pressure, such as Net-a-Porter, and many shoppers left waiting for their deliveries weeks later. “These retailers need to sort this capacity issue out and quickly or face losing sales to competitors with more robust systems.”

Nevertheless, the BRC and KPMG predict that the growth in online sales is most likely to continue through the month of December, with many retailers noting a boost in Click and Collect usage as a top shopping option. “Online sales will help to drive growth for retailers this Christmas and are a crucial element of their overall strategy,” conclude McCorquodale.