April 2015 witnessed 15.4 per cent increase in online sales of non-food items in the United Kingdom, which is a notable increase from the 11.2 per cent recorded during the corresponding period last year. This is according to the monthly sales monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and audit firm KPMG.

Last month’s growth is the highest that has been seen since October. It also surpassed the three-month and twelve-month averages of 12 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively. Online sales during the period also accounted for 17.6 per cent of the overall non-food sales; just one year ago, the figure stood at 15.9 per cent.

“This is the best online growth since October, which brings the three-month average roughly in line with the twelve-month average of 12.5 per cent,” said BRC’s Director General Helen Dickinson.

Sales of fashion and beauty items were especially robust as three sub-segments – footwear, clothing, and health and beauty – recorded their highest online sales growth in two years. Retailers also reported that these items saw greater sales numbers during the month.

In addition, online sales during the month pushed the total sales of non-food items up by 2.3 percentage points, which marks its highest contribution since December 2013. The three-month average contribution of ecommerce to the sale of these products was also on par with the percentage coming from brick-and-mortar stores.

“Considering that almost one pound in every five is spent online for non-food goods, the growth figure is testament to the great British online retail offering. Indeed April recorded the highest contribution to overall growth of non-food since December 2013,” added Dickinson.