Summer weather in April is being cited as the reason behind the strongest April-to-May growth in online sales witnessed in 10 years.
The IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index has revealed that May also displayed the strongest year-on-year growth in online sales (17%) seen since June last year.
The average basket value year-to-date has also increased from £78 in 2015 to £81 in 2016.
The annual growth in sales via smartphones continues to significantly outperform those made by tablets, with 79% growth for smartphones and 5% for tablets in May.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said: “Uncertainty around the EU referendum doesn’t appear to have had any impact on the UK e-retail sector, with the latest results from the IMRG Capgemini Index revealing strong growth in online sales during May.
“Year-to-date, online sales have grown 14.5%, well ahead of our 11% growth forecast for 2016, while sales via mobile devices continue to grow at twice the overall market rate.”