Yahoo Finance Smartphones push spending online to £7.2bn
ONLINE retailers took £7.2bn of sales in February as the number of people using their smartphones and tablets to shop soared, new figures released yesterday show.
According to e-tail industry body IMRG and advisory firm Capgemini, online retail sales increased by 18 per cent in February compared with the same time last year thanks to the wet weather, which prompted more shoppers to stay indoors.
Shoppers using smartphones and tablet computers were the main drivers of growth, with sales through mobile devices leaping by 66 per cent in the period.
“Growth in the UK e-retail sector shows no sign of abating, with the Index performance coming in ahead of our expectations last month,” IMRG’s chief information officer Tina Spooner, said.
“In fact, looking at the combined results for January and February it is evident that we have seen the strongest start to the year since 2011,” she added.
Valentine’s Day also helped to boost growth, with sales of lingerie up 24 per cent and health and beauty goods such as perfume reporting a 25 per cent growth compared with a year earlier.
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