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December trading online up 18% for niche retailers conversions up 63%
Niche online retailers have enjoyed an average sales increase of 18% in December 2008 trading but sales conversions increased by 63%, based upon the sales data of 50 niche retail and mail order companies whose online shops (websites) are managed by e-commerce services provider Screen Pages.
The sample includes 2.5m shoppers spending over £7m. Retailers include in the figures are Thorntons, Joules Clothing, Smythson, Oliver Bonas, Hotter Shoes, Crombie, Dunelm Mill, Soletrader and Browns Fashion.
Other standout statistics include:
Visitors down by 18% on average and traffic down 8% overall
Conversion ratios improved by 63% overall, yielding an increase of 21% in sales overall
Average conversions were 4.1% (against 2.7% in 2007)
Clothing/apparel companies performed well, with average sales up 35%
Home & garden suppliers only showed average sales up 7%
Over one third of the sample (18 companies) showed more than 30% growth and 6 companies enjoyed a doubling of sales
However, 19 of the group experienced negative growth. Of these, 7 have been involved with significant business re-organisations and of the rest, only 4 had sales in excess of £100,000 in December 2008.
Screen Pages analysis
The bottom line is that retailers who are working hard online are enjoying success. Success is about analysis, planning, attention to detail and execution. Overall traffic may be down we assume for economic reasons but sales are up, fuelled by higher conversions from more effective marketing, better website optimisation and customer experience. The passing of one year has taught these retailers much.
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