LONDON, 2015-4-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — Helen Dickinson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said: “The latest BRC-Google figures show that UK consumers are making greater use than ever of handheld devices to shop online, particularly where it comes to buying clothes. The number of people using their smartphone to search for apparel is up by 54 per cent compared to year ago, while tablet searches over the same period are up by 11 per cent.
“British shoppers are also increasingly looking abroad as well as at home to buy their clothes, with a 9 per cent rise in consumers searching online for overseas clothes retailers. This trend also applies however to shoppers abroad with a 10 per cent rise compared to last year in the number of consumers in other countries searching online for UK apparel.”
Peter Fitzgerald, Retail Director, Google, said: “Mobile continues to drive growth in the UK and this remains the case with apparel in the first quarter of the year. Interestingly, emerging markets still see strong growth from tablets, however smartphones supercharge growth for overseas consumers of UK brands.
“Multichannel retailers had a strong Q1, growing at 42% YoY. This reflects the increasing trend we see in the UK toward click-and-collect services. Consumers value the convenience of in-store collection, and particularly for apparel, the ability to easily return goods to store.
“Finally, the New Year saw an increase in sports and fitness apparel searches as Brits turn over a new leaf and focus on their health. Looking at the top queries we can see that wedding season is under way with engagement rings and wedding dresses trending on mobile devices.”
British Retail Consortium, 21 Dartmouth Street, Westminster, London, SW1H 9BP. 020 7854 8900. info@brc.org.uk.