E-tailers fight back

UK e-tailers are now accounting for over one per cent of total retail sales - a far larger segment than previous estimates suggested.

A report out today, which claims to be the first to follow a reliable methodology, found UK e-tail up 162 per cent between April 2000 and April 2001, to a total of £1.8bn. Sales for April 2001 were £210m.

UK-based Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has been collecting 'hard' data on a month-to-month basis from 'tens' of its members in the UK. Those willing to be named include Argos, Debenhams, Iceland, John Lewis and Thomas Cook.

James Roper, CEO of IMRG, said: "Until now the value of e-tail sales has been little more than a wild guess. In the US it's estimated that e-tail is only one per cent of all retail sales. You would expect the UK to be a year or two behind, but our data shows that e-tail is well over one per cent of all retail in the UK."

Roper pointed out that the survey was based on ordinary consumer shopping and had not been inflated by including online PC sales.

Matthew Peacock, CEO of leading UK ecommerce logistics firm iForce, said: "This data is exactly in line with the volumes that we have going through our warehouses. It is excellent that IMRG's index will now provide robust data."

Companies contributing to the survey were eager to entice more IMRG members aboard. Peter Jones, operations director at Argos, said: "This survey brings some long-awaited reality into an over-hyped world. Argos is happy to participate and hopes others will follow."