Navigating the New Normal: The UK’s e-commerce retail trends 2023 into 2024

A recent CBRE Report on the state of the UK’s Real Estate for retail, states that while UK retail sales in 2023 remained subdued and still below retail volumes in 2019 pre-pandemic, e-commerce will continue to grow as a percentage of total retail sales. 

During the recent coronavirus pandemic online sales boomed, as might have been expected, but levels have since returned to the trend line of previous years and still increasing. At the end of 2023, October saw an on-trend percentage of 26.3% of online sales, with the typical November peak reaching 30.7% this is the highest rate of internet sales-to-date, other than the two Novembers in 2020 and ’21 during the pandemic. (Office for National Statistics) The CBRE predicts that internet sales will continue to grow as a percentage of total retail sales over the coming year, reaching an average of 28% by the end of 2024. 

However, with demand for retail down or at least subdued for the next year, and consumer confidence remaining low, but slowly improving through the year with the possibility of interest rates coming down, retail profit margins look set to remain under pressure. Retailers are going to have to work hard for consumers’ purchases and loyalty in the coming year, with those retailers who differentiate themselves from the others, with customer service and home deliveries to suit the consumer becoming more likely to gain market share and consumer loyalty, leading to increased repeat purchases. 

To discover how Descartes can increase customer engagement and service while improving the efficiency of deliveries contact us now to talk with one of our logistics experts.