Daily Mail

March of online shoe shoppers

40% of money women spend goes on the net

- By Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor s.poulter@dailymail.co.uk

FORGET trudging up and down the high street to find that perfect pair of heels. It seems that most women would rather avoid the hassle and buy their shoes online.

a record 40 per cent of all spending on shoes by women was done online last month, research shows.

It is the latest evidence of how the internet has revolution­ised our spending habits. The data from the British Retail Consortium found that almost a fifth (18.4 per cent) of all shopping in January for everything except food was done through websites rather than in stores.

This is a huge jump of 11.7 per cent from January last year.

Online spending rates were particular­ly high for fashion. More than a quarter of money spent on clothing, or £1 in every £4, was done through websites – even though shoppers cannot try items on before they buy.

The rate was even higher for shoes, at more than a third (£1 out of every £3) for the whole population and rising to two fifths (£4 in £10) for women.

The BRC suggested that the high numbers of shoes bought online was because ‘the customer experience is generally a better one than in stores’.

This could be because stores become overcrowde­d, particular­ly during the January sales, or because it can be a lottery as to whether that store has a particular style or size in stock.

In contrast, shoppers can browse hundreds of designs on websites from the comfort of their homes and see in an instant whether their size is available.

Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said that internet spending in January tends to be high because of online bargains after Christmas, but this year ‘January online sales made up their largest proportion of overall retail sales, only second to November’.

She added: ‘as websites continue to improve, including ease of use on mobile devices, with more stock being listed online, it is not a surprise that we loved buying online this January.’

David McCorquoda­le, head of retail at accountanc­y firm KPMG, said stores need to invest in their websites and improve the experience for customers.

‘Online sales had a strong January, bolstered by seasonal sales campaigns and targeted marketing drives,’ he said.

‘This side of retailers’ business has a leading role to play in driving overall sales growth, with more shoppers than ever choosing the convenienc­e of buying online.

‘In order to significan­tly move the dial, substantia­l spend is needed to improve the robustness of retailers’ systems and improve the experience for customers. Retailers’ online operations warrant the lion’s share of their investment budgets this year.’

Recent research by communicat­ions watchdog Ofcom found that Britons spend more money online per head than any other developed country in the world.

The figure is almost £2,000 a year – which is £600 more than the next-highest biggest spenders, australian­s. Ofcom suggested this was thanks to widespread broadband access in the uk.

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