Looking into the stats for retail sales in 2017, in order to understand how the market will look for retailers in 2018, it appears the UK is currently ahead of the US in percentage revenue of sales achieved through online, but both countries’ online sales will grow next year. In the UK, the Office for National Statistics’ last report in July showed that “online sales increased year-on-year by 15.1% and by 0.3% on the month [July 2017], accounting for approximately 16.0% of all retail spending.” In July 2016 that figure was 14.5%. And it has seen continued growth, month-on-month.

You can see the breakdown by different areas in the chart from the ONS below:

How Does that Compare to the US?

Now I’ll admit, in many trends, the US is usually ahead of the UK and we see things coming here later. Not so with online shopping. In the UK it was 16% of retail sales but in the US it is 12.9%, according to Forrester, which stated that “U.S. online sales are expected to reach more than $459 billion in 2017, rising 14% from last year and accounting for 12.9% of the anticipated $3.56 trillion in total retail sales. Total retail sales (both online and offline) are projected to grow by $129 billion over 2016. This was confirmed by an article in Retail Touchpoint. By 2022, online will account for 17% of all retail sales, according to the Forrester report.

Whether your online sales are in the UK or the US, the trend is upwards for your revenues from online shopping. A big growth in the US and a continued growth in the UK. And yet so many companies we meet are not maximising on the opportunity because they are not being found by the people that are most likely to buy their products.

Ego shoes grew their sales by 85% by being savvy with the way they manage bidding and the information about their products in Google Shopping. Or contact us to speak to us about how we can help you maximise on the opportunity, rather than getting left behind.