The UK Online Retailing report offers comprehensive insight and analysis of the online channel in the UK, the main trends and hot issues, major players and consumer shopping behaviour. It also provides forecasts to 2027 across key retail sectors
The pandemic forced more consumers to spend online as many physical locations closed, bringing forward growth in the digital channel. This led to online spend falling in 2022 as the online and offline channels rebalanced and many shoppers returned to stores.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online specialists such as Amazon and ASOS had dominated the online channel in the UK, achieving phenomenal growth rates year-on-year. While pureplays will continue to lead the way online given their investment in technology and innovation, these retailers will be under greater threat from multichannel retailers that now have more developed online capabilities.
The pandemic forced more consumers to spend online as many physical locations closed, bringing forward growth in the digital channel. This led to online spend falling in 2022 as the online and offline channels rebalanced and many shoppers returned to stores.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online specialists such as Amazon and ASOS had dominated the online channel in the UK, achieving phenomenal growth rates year-on-year. While pureplays will continue to lead the way online given their investment in technology and innovation, these retailers will be under greater threat from multichannel retailers that now have more developed online capabilities.
Scope
- The food & grocery sector online penetration continues to increase out to 2027, with it forecast to be the fastest growing sector online having become more established during the pandemic
- Following significant peaks and troughs caused by the pandemic across 2020 to 2022, annual online growth is forecast to stabilise at around 5% from 2024 onwards with digital growth once again outpacing spend growth via physical stores
- The ease of comparing prices has remained the biggest driver in online shopping, with two thirds of online shoppers believing that online shopping is better than physical shopping in this aspect
Reasons to Buy
- Use our in-depth consumer and market insight to learn about the growth of different sectors online and the issues affecting the online market to ensure you capitalise on high growth areas such as click & collect and third-party pickup in a given sector
- Understand why and how consumers shop online for different products to capitalise on the growth in the online market
- Understand which retailers have the most popular online propositions in each sector, enabling you to better compete with market leading players and enhance your own online propositions
Table of Contents
- Executive summary
- KEY TRENDS
- Market drivers
- Market inhibitors
- Key Trends: Flexible working and delivery schedules
- Key Trends: Returns in clothing & footwear
- Key Trends: Mobile device usage increases in older shoppers
- MARKET SIZE AND FORECASTS 2020-2025
- UK Online Market, five year growth 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Market Size, 2017-2027
- UK Online Growth vs Total Retail Growth, 2017-2027
- UK Online Share of Total Retail, 2017-2027
- UK Online Non-Food Share of Non-Food Retail, 2017-2027
- UK Fulfilment Method Share of Online Retail, 2015, 2022, & 2025
- SECTOR PERFORMANCE AND FORECASTS 2022-2027
- Key sector trends
- UK Online Sector Growth %, 2022-2027
- UK Online Market by Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Online Market Sector Value and Forecast, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Sector Penetration %, 2022
- UK Click & Collect Sector Sales, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Third-Party Pickup Sector Sales, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Returns Market by Sector, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Books Market, 2017-2027
- UK Books Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Market, 2017-2027
- UK Clothing & Footwear Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online DIY & Gardening Market, 2017-2027
- UK DIY & Gardening Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Electricals Market, 2017-2027
- UK Electricals Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Entertainment Market, 2017-2027
- UK Entertainment Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Food & Grocery Market, 2017-2027
- UK Food & Grocery Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Market, 2017-2027
- UK Furniture & Floorcoverings Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Health & Beauty Market, 2017-2027
- UK Health & Beauty Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Homewares Market, 2017-2027
- UK Homewares Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE: RETAILER USAGE
- Top 10 retailers purchased from by sector, 2022
- CONSUMERS
- Key consumer trends
- UK Online Shopper Penetration & Profile, 2022
- UK Online Books Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online DIY & Gardening Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Electricals Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Entertainment Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Food & Grocery: Weekly or Regular Shop Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Health & Beauty Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- UK Online Homewares Shopper Penetration, 2021 & 2022
- Online Shopping Drivers, 2021 & 2022
- Online Shopping Drivers, 2022
- Device Penetration, 2018-2022
- Device Penetration, 2022
- Online Returns Method Usage, 2018-2022
- Drivers of Online Clothing & Footwear Returns, 2018-2022
- Social Media Penetration, 2022
- Location of Online Purchases, 2020, 2021 and 2022
- Technology in online shopping usage, 2022
- Financial services usage, 2022
- Online shopping functions usage, 2022
- Rapid delivery services usage, 2022
- Delivery preferences, 2022
- Delivery methods future usage, 2022
- Expected spend online by sector %, 2022
- METHODOLOGY, DEFINITIONS AND CONTACTS
- Methodology
- Definitions
- Contact the Publisher
- UK Online Market Sector Value and Forecast, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Click & Collect Sector Sales, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Third-Party Pickup Sector Sales, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Returns Market by Sector, 2022 2025
- Online Shopping Drivers % by demographic, 2022
- Rapid delivery services usage by demographic, 2022
- Usage of various delivery timeframes, 2022
- Online returns for all sectors, 2021 and 2022
- Mobile device profile by age %, 2021 and 2022
- UK Online Market GBPm, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Market Annual Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Online Growth vs Total Retail Growth, 2017-2027
- UK Online Share of Total Retail %, 2017-2027
- UK Online Non-Food Share of Non-Food Retail %, 2017-2027
- UK Fulfilment Method Share of Online Retail %, 2017, 2022 & 2027
- UK Online Sector Growth %, 2022-2027
- UK Online Market by Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Online Sector Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Books Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Books Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Books Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Books Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Books Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Clothing & Footwear Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Clothing & Footwear Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Clothing & Footwear Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online DIY& Gardening Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online DIY& Gardening Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK DIY& Gardening Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK DIY& Gardening Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK DIY& Gardening Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Electricals Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Electricals Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Electricals Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Electricals Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Electricals Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Entertainment Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Entertainment Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Entertainment Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Entertainment Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Entertainment Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Food & Grocery Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Food & Grocery Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Food & Grocery Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Food & Grocery Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Food & Grocery Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Furniture & Floorcoverings Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Furniture & Floorcoverings Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Furniture & Floorcoverings Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Health & Beauty Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Health & Beauty Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Health & Beauty Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Health & Beauty Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Health & Beauty Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- UK Online Homewares Market Value GBPm, 2017-2027
- UK Online Homewares Market Annual Growth vs Total Online Growth %, 2017-2027
- UK Homewares Share of Total Online Market %, 2017-2027
- UK Homewares Online Share of Sector %, 2017-2027
- UK Homewares Market Growth by Channel, 2022-2027
- Top 10 Books Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Clothing & Footwear Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 DIY & Gardening Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Electricals Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Food & Grocery (weekly or regular shop) Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Food & Grocery (gift food) Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Furniture & Floorcoverings Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Health & Beauty Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Homewares Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Music & Video Retailers %, 2022
- Top 10 Video & Computer Games Retailers %, 2022
- UK Online Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Shopper Profile %, 2022
- UK Online Shopper Profile %, 2021
- UK Online Books Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Books Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Clothing & Footwear Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online DIY & Gardening Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online DIY & Gardening Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Electricals Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Electricals Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Entertainment Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Entertainment Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Food & Grocery: Weekly or Regular Shop Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Food & Grocery: Weekly or Regular Shop Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Furniture & Floorcoverings Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Health & Beauty Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Health & Beauty Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- UK Online Homewares Shopper Penetration %, 2022
- UK Online Homewares Shopper Penetration %, 2021
- Online Shopping Drivers %, 2022
- Device Penetration %, 2018-2022
- Device Penetration by Demographics %, 2022
- Online Returns Method Usage %, 2018-2022
- Drivers of Online Clothing & Footwear Returns %, 2020-2022
- Social Media Penetration %, 2022
- Location of Online Purchases, 2020, 2021, 2022
- Technology in online shopping usage, 2022
- Financial services usage, 2022
- Online shopping functions usage, 2022
- Rapid delivery services usage, 2022
- Delivery preferences, 2022
- Delivery methods future usage, 2022
- Expected spend online by sector %, 2022
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Aldi
- Amazon
- Amazon Fresh
- AO
- Apple
- Argos
- ASDA
- ASOS
- Audible
- B&Q
- Beelivery
- Book Depository
- Boots
- Currys
- Deliveroo
- DFS
- Dunelm
- Fancy
- GAME
- Getir
- GoPuff
- Gorillas
- H&M
- Holland & Barrett
- Home Bargains
- Homebase
- Hotel Chocolat
- Iceland
- IKEA
- iTunes
- Jiffy
- John Lewis & Partners
- Laithwaites
- Lidl
- Lookfantastic
- Marks & Spencer
- Matalan
- Microsoft
- Milk & More
- Moonpig
- Morrisons
- New Look
- Next
- Nike
- Nintendo
- Oak Furniture Land
- Ocado
- Playstation
- Sainsbury's
- Screwfix
- Sky
- Sports Direct
- Steam
- Superdrug
- Tesco
- The Body Shop
- The Book People
- The Range
- The Works
- TikTok
- Toolstation
- Uber Eats
- Very
- Waitrose & Partners
- Waterstones
- Wayfair
- WH Smith
- Wickes
- Wilko
- YouTube
- Zara
