Annual discount days set online sales soaring in November, with a growth rate of +16.4% year-on-year. The figures are from the latest IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, which tracks the online sales performance of over 200 retailers.

This was not only the highest growth of 2019 to date; it was over double the growth of November 2018 (+8%). It was also +54% higher month-on-month than October’s results. Comparatively, October-November growth rates typically reach around +40%.

Clothing saw its highest sales increase (+19.3%) since November 2016.

From a channel perspective, it was online-only retailers that seemed to benefit most from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with growth of +24.7% versus +9.2% for multichannel retailers.

Both channels also saw increased conversion rates (+6.9% overall vs. +6.2% in 2019), though the Average Basket Value (ABV) dipped by -11%.

Meanwhile, m-commerce had a less stellar month. Smartphone growth was good (+24.4%). However, the largest ever negative growth for tablets (-34.8%) brought the overall growth figure to -8.5%.

Commenting is Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG.

“After a year of very weak demand online, the November result is little short of exceptional,” he says. “There was a trend for retailers starting their campaigns earlier in the month this year and shoppers seemed to respond readily.

“However, while this is undoubtedly positive news, it would seem odd if retailers suddenly experienced consistently strong Christmas trading after such a poor year.

“Since November captured a high share of sales volumes, will shoppers have anything left to buy in December? Early anecdotal evidence suggests December trading was very subdued in the first week; how is it going to balance out overall?”