Summer Olympics Weaken Online Sales in August

Summer Olympics Weaken Online Sales in August PR Newswire LONDON, September 19, 2012 LONDON, September 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Brits distracted by team GB glory £5.8 billion spent online during August 2012 rdIndex sees year-on-year growth of 11%; 3 lowest YOY growth in 2012 Mobile retail soared 294% year-on-year According to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, British shoppers spent £5.8bn online in August, a year-on-year growth of 11%, but dropping 11% on July. While a decline between July and August is typical (-6% in 2011 and -8% in 2010) with the start of the Autumn school term, the decline was particularly significant this year, however, with the Olympics distracting regular online shoppers. Despite the disappointing performance, and in contrast to the wider retail sector, e-commerce is growing - the year to date Index has grown 13%, as per earlier forecasts for the year. It seems the country's determination to cheer on team GB's heroes affected most of the sectors in August. Despite what has been a very solid year-on-year performance over the last four months, growth in the Electrical sector fell to just 11% and reported a month-on-month decline of 2%.