Web shops wanted! Brits expected to spend £120.5bn online in 2021

A new report by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) and VoucherCodes has revealed exponential growth of online sales is set to continue in 2021, with £120.48bn forecasted to be spent, up by £10bn from 2020.

Further statistics from the report reveal that online sales are expected to make up almost a third of overall retail spending in 2021, however forecasts show growth of online sales will slow down by 2022, marginally increasing by 0.10% to £120.6bn.

Tammy Koslowski, founder of NAF! Stuff reveals, “Your social platforms are a great place to sell your retail products and to talk about their individual benefits, show them in use, showcase before and afters and share customer testimonials on your posts and stories. This will not only encourage your clients (and followers) to make a purchase, it’s also providing easy and varied content to have on your platform and to keep people engaged!”

What about retail stores? They have arguably taken the hardest hit in the pandemic, and it shows – with total sales in stores falling by a colossal £35.3bn when comparing the period 2019-2020 to 2020-2021.

Despite the upward projections, nearly two thirds (60.5%) of consumers think they will spend less online than they did during lockdown. Almost a quarter (23%) say they will spend just as much as they did during periods of lockdown, and 16.5% say they will spend more online.

Anita Naik, lifestyle editor at VoucherCodes comments, “The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for many changes in the retail industry, especially the migration of more consumers to online shops and people relying more heavily on online retailers than in the past.

“Despite a difficult economic period, it’s encouraging for the UK’s retail industry to see that shoppers are still keen to spend money in store as well as online. While physical stores have struggled over the past year, it’s great to see a real desire from consumers to get back to shopping in store.”

Tammy adds, “I’m a big believer in in-person sales and encouraging clients to come to the salon to shop locally and pick up their products (if that works for you!). It’s a great way to upsell your other products, show how to use them properly and turn new customers into clients!“

For more details, the Life after Covid: Prospects for online retailing, physical stores, and how we pay report can be found here.