International appetite for British brands online surges

Demand for British brands and retailers online from people around the globe surged over the festive season, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Google.

The BRC-Google Online Retail Monitor for the three months to December 31, 2014, showed that Brazil had the greatest growth with the number of people search for UK retailers and brands on mobile up 717 percent and on tablets up 89 percent, compared to 2013.

Other countries presenting substantial growth rates in mobile search were Argentina, Poland and Hungary at 240 percent, 97 percent and 88 percent respectively. The only country to see a decline in searches for UK retailers was Japan.

The top trending searches for the clothing sector included dresses, wedding dresses, engagement rings, Christmas jumpers and shoes.

Helen Dickinson, director general at the BRC, said: “Today’s figures clearly demonstrate the appetite of consumers across the globe for UK retail. This presents an enormous market opportunity for retailers regardless of their size.

"One of the key trends retailers will be paying close attention to is, in the emerging markets, the first digital point of contact for a huge number of consumers is a smartphone or tablet device. This is because in many of those markets mobile infrastructure is far superior to the fixed line broadband networks in more established economies like the UK.”

Dickinson added: “This means that if Britain's retailers want to take advantage of the interest being abroad they'll need to continue their investment in device-optimised platforms; ensuring that no matter how a customer first comes into contact with them they can offer the world beating service that is the hallmark of British retailing.”

Peter Fitzgerald, retail director, Google, commented: "The growth of mobile and connected devices continued to power our clients' Export efforts in 2014, with many of the largest emerging and established markets seeing astounding smartphone growth. Understanding the role of mobile in the purchase process is vital if retailers are to unlock its full value.”