Euro 2008 blues dents online booze and TV sales

Online shopping is continuing to grow steadily across many ranges in May but the lack of a home nations team in the Euro 2008 football championship means sales of electrical goods and alcohol has fallen by around 10 per cent in the UK.

CIO50 2008: Top 10

The UK's leading CIOs revealed…

1.Robin Dargue Royal Mail

2.David Lister Royal Bank of Scotland

3.Neil Cameron Unilever

4.Catherine Doran Network Rail

5.John Suffolk UK government

6.Gordon Lovell-Read Siemens UK

7.Paul Coby British Airways

8.Tania Howarth Birds Eye Iglo Group

9.Simon Post Carphone Warehouse

10.Ben Wishart Whitbread

The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index shows that UK shoppers spent £4.5bn in May, the equivalent of £73 per person in the country. This is a 30 per cent year-on-year growth and an increase of 1.6 per cent on April. Month-on-month growth has actually slowed by 1.6 per cent, but analysts claim this is in line with normal seasonal variation.

Sales growth for the month was confined to clothing, footwear and accessories, which increased by four per cent. Broken out on its own, footwear increased by 17 per cent. The index analysts attribute increases in these areas to interest in the premiere of Sex and the City, a film centred around a group of fashion-conscious women in New York.

In a statement, Capgemini VP UK consumer products and retail team said: "The premiere of Sex and the City provided an excellent platform for e-retailers to capitalise on consumer spending but elsewhere the lack of any of the big four clubs in the FA Cup and the absence of a home team in Euro 2008 seems to have hit hopes of the sales of large-screen TVs and alcohol."

Bucking the trend on rising inflation, retailers saw pressure on the pricing of electricals, according to the MD of comparison site Kelkoo.co.uk, Bruce Fair.

In a statement, he said: "We've seen the price of large TVs decrease by around 40 per cent over the last 12 months, with savings of well over £250 on a typical LCD TV. Online fashion sales have been steadily rising. It is a testament to the improved levels of service that web shops are offering and the fact that major fashion retailers are investing in their online properties."