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Are you waiting for Black Friday?

There were headlines recently that online retailers had experienced the  weakest August in terms of year-on-year growth since 2000.


The  growth for August was 5%, the smallest percentage since the IMRG  Capgemini index started recording retail sales data 15 years ago.
 
But  there is good news behind those isolated stats. Year-to-date figures  are up by a healthier 10% and Capgemini's head of digital, Alex  Smith-Bingham remains optimistic for retailers.
 
Ecommerce growth is “far more positive”
 
Mr  Smith-Bingham said that shoppers during August were most likely taking  advantage of the sun by shopping on the high street, and figures were  also affected by the late bank holidays.
 
IMRG's chief information  officer, Tina Spooner, said growth had been “far more positive” since  the index recorded a 7% growth in the first quarter of 2015, and  considered August's growth to be “a blip”.
 
Speaking to The  Guardian, IMRG's editor, Andy Mulcahy, also pointed out that sales would  likely rationalise over time anyway, and that in recent years, growth  had remained so buoyant because of the rise of mobile and tablet  ecommerce.
 
Nonetheless, IMRG identified five possible areas that  could have affected August's growth. These were: shopping reaching its  peak; disruption from the general election, strength of the pound  affecting custom from overseas buyers; people spending on leisure rather  that ecommerce; and shoppers holding out until Black Friday.
 
Will ecommerce boom again for Black Friday?
 
Earlier  this year, warnings were made by John Lewis about the negative impact  of Black Friday sales – namely that shoppers would buy Christmas  presents early at a discount and retailers would suffer overall.
It  remains to be seen how the rest of the year will pan out for ecommerce  sales, although a year-to-date growth of 10% suggests it has not  plateaued quite yet.
 
Next month will also give us a better idea  of whether shoppers are holding out for Black Friday, or if the  traditional American sale day is not as much of a draw this year.
 
About the author


 
 
We are Eastpoint Software web and mobile app development team based in Cambridge and London.
Eastpoint  Software Web, Mobile Apps and eCommerce Development Company London, Cambridge and UK.  If you have any questions and are looking for eCommerce and mobile app  development, please give us a call on 01223 690164 or Mail Us info@eastpoint.co.uk. Our tech team love building apps, and are keen to  take on new projects.
 
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