Online retail in the United Kingdom has been gaining ground in the past decade. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the value of online retail sales in the United Kingdom peaked at around 129.5 billion British pounds in 2021. In 2022, the figure decreased to ***** billion British pounds. However, they then went through another recovery and achieved around ***** billion British pounds in 2024. What ranks high in UK e-commerce? In the United Kingdom, clothing and household goods were the most popular retail items consumers purchased through the internet in 2020. Data published by the Office for National Statistics (UK) showed that other leisure activities and services such as booking holiday accommodations, travel arrangements and event tickets were other areas consumers depended on the internet to buy. German e-commerce market The UK might have the highest share of online sales in retail trade, but other European countries such as Germany and France have had impressive track records over the years as well. According to the forecasts provided by German E-commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bevh), the market volume of Germany’s e-commerce sector was projected to see over ** billion euros in 2021.

In March 2025, the value of internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales in Great Britain amounted to 26.3 percent. This was a slight increase compared with the previous month, when online retail sales accounted for 25.9 percent of total retail sales.

In August 2025, the value of internet retail sales in Great Britain reached a value of over *** billion British pounds, down from the previous month. Overall the value of internet retail sales has steadily increased with peaks during the winter season, reflecting sales increase from the holiday season.

In August 2025, monthly internet retail sales increased by 4.7 percent in Great Britain, compared to the same month of the previous year.

Over the past pandemic year, a significant number of consumers in the United Kingdom (UK) have reported changes in their online shopping behavior. Specifically, in March 2020, about ** percent of UK shoppers said they had been shopping more online, compared to before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. By February 2021, however, this percentage had grown to approximately ** percent. By the same token, offline shopping has decreased over the analyzed period.

What does the online shopper want? The answer for UK consumers was price comparisons, according to results of a consumer survey conducted each year from 2018 to 2020. In each of these years, those surveyed predominantly cited price comparison and greater variety as the two leading motivations to do their shopping online. Most popular items purchased online The latest reports published by the Office for National Statistics (UK) also suggested that, for both British men and women alike, clothing and sports goods were the number one items that shoppers purchased online in 2020. Ranking second that year, deliveries from restaurants, fast-food chains or catering services were ordered by approximately a ***** of consumers in Great Britain. UK: Europe’s leading e-commerce market UK’s online shoppers drive the sovereign country’s retail sector. Currently, the share of online sales as a proportion to all retail trade makes the United Kingdom the leading e-commerce market in Europe. Forecasts indicate that the total value of online sales in the UK will have reached approximately ********* British pounds in 2020.

According to the results of Coronavirus Consumer Tracker conducted by Internet Retailing, coronavirus (COVID-19) had the most impact on takeaway food ordering habits of consumers. In the week ending May 6, more than ********* of UK consumers who took part in this tracker said they stopped ordering food online completely. Just over ** percent of consumers said they reduced ordering takeaway food.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere in the world, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In August 2025, internet sales accounted for 26.2 percent of all retail sales in Great Britain. Over the considered period, food online sales did not go over 10 percent of total retail sales.

The main driver for online shopping activity in the United Kingdom was free delivery, with ** percent of digital buyers in the country reporting so. Another driver to purchase products online was having no hidden fees. The rise of e-commerce in the UK with fashion leading the way Already a part of daily life for millions of consumers in the UK, the popularity of online shopping only increased considerably after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the United Kingdom, e-commerce generated *** billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2023; revenue figures are forecast to grow in the coming years, reaching a total of *** billion by 2029. The leading e-commerce industry was the fashion segment, accounting for a revenue of around ** billion U.S. dollars. Tesco leads UK's e-commerce food sector Aside from fashion, the food sector also stands out when analyzing e-commerce in the United Kingdom. Food e-commerce generated ***** billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2023. Tesco, the popular British grocery store which started its online activities in the 2000s, was the leading online grocery store in the country in 2023, generating net sales of around **** billion U.S. dollars.

The United Kingdom is the leading market in Europe when it comes to online shopping. In 2021, the revenue of e-commerce in the United Kingdom reached a total of 129 billion British pounds. This figure is almost 15 percent up from the 112.7 billion British pounds in 2020, and over triple the revenue of UK e-commerce in 2015.

Leading e-commerce sectors According to the most recent e-commerce activity reports issued by the Office for National Statistics, non-store retailing done online, followed by textile, clothing, and footwear sales were the two sectors with the highest shares of retail e-commerce sales. Internet sales in Great Britain accounted for 92.6 percent of non-store retail, and over 26 percent of textile, clothing and footwear sales.

Sales value trends

Following the spike in e-commerce growth in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, internet retail sales were up 10.8 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, which had seen a much higher increase, at 47 percent. By the month, internet retail sales dropped by 20 percent as of January 2022. This decrease is likely due to UK shoppers re-adopting in-store shopping.

The value of total retail spending (online and in stores) is projected to see an increase in the UK in 2025, reaching a combined value of over ***** billion British pounds. This holiday season (covering the six-week period from mid-November to the end of December), online sales are forecast to see growth compared to the previous two years.

In 2020, the e-commerce sales reached a share of **** percent of all retail sales in the Untied Kingdom (UK). For 2025, the forecasted retail e-commerce sales as a share of total retail sales in the UK might reach **** percent, up from the previous years.

In 2021, the United Kingdom (UK) recorded an estimated *** billion British pounds in e-commerce retail sales. Of this value, over ** percent was first-party sales, and the other ** percent was third-party. Online sales in both business models were forecast to keep growing in the European country in the coming years.

In 2024, global retail e-commerce sales reached an estimated ************ U.S. dollars. Projections indicate a ** percent growth in this figure over the coming years, with expectations to come close to ************** dollars by 2028. World players Among the key players on the world stage, the American marketplace giant Amazon holds the title of the largest e-commerce player globally, with a gross merchandise value of nearly *********** U.S. dollars in 2024. Amazon was also the most valuable retail brand globally, followed by mostly American competitors such as Walmart and the Home Depot. Leading e-tailing regions E-commerce is a dormant channel globally, but nowhere has it been as successful as in Asia. In 2024, the e-commerce revenue in that continent alone was measured at nearly ************ U.S. dollars, outperforming the Americas and Europe. That year, the up-and-coming e-commerce markets also centered around Asia. The Philippines and India stood out as the swiftest-growing e-commerce markets based on online sales, anticipating a growth rate surpassing ** percent.

In March 2025, the share of total retail sales of textile products, clothes, and shoes made online in Great Britain amounted to ** percent. A peak was reached in February 2021, when online sales reached about ** percent of total retail sales of textile products, clothes, and shoes in Great Britain.

According to the source, the online share of retail sales in the United Kingdom (UK) was estimated to be **** percent by the end of 2022. This figure is down from 2021, where online sales accounted for **** percent of the online retail industry.

Online sales account for an increasingly large share of all retail sales in Great Britain. The figure grew steadily each year to reach nearly ** percent in 2021, before declining to **** percent in 2022. In 2010, only *** percent of total retail sales were made online.

The online purchasing penetration in Great Britain from 2008 to 2020 has demonstrated an exponential increase. In 2008, just over half of British consumers stated having made a purchase through online methods. Whereas in 2020, 87 percent of British consumers stated utilizing online channels to make purchases. This demonstrates that e-commerce in the UK shows no signs of slowing down in the future.

B2C vs. B2B e-commerce

Generally speaking, e-commerce sales to private customers through a website trumps sales to private businesses or public authorities. In 2018, sales to private customers through a website accounted for almost 200 billion pounds in revenue and sales to businesses or public authorities accounted for 165.3 billion pounds in revenue. From 2014 to 2018, with the exception of 2015, year after year e-commerce sales to private customers has increased. The most popular goods purchased online in Great Britain in 2019 were clothing or sports goods; 60 percent of consumers surveyed reported having purchased clothes or sporting goods online. Another popular category for online shopping among British consumers was household goods, with 49 percent of those surveyed stating they had purchased these online.

Most popular online activity

Although shopping is clearly a popular online activity, the leading online activity among UK citizens in 2019 was online banking. 73 percent of those surveyed reported having done so in 2019. Browsing for leisure activities such as cinema times and live music was also a popular online activity of UK citizens.

During a late 2023 survey carried out among working-age consumers from the United Kingdom (UK), roughly ** percent of respondents stated they started their online shopping journey on search engines. Approximately ** percent said they started their journeys on marketplaces.

In 2023, approximately ** percent of e-commerce retail sales in the United Kingdom were conducted through mobile devices. Projections for 2027 anticipate a further rise, with mobile commerce (m-commerce) expected to account for about **** percent of the total online shopping market in the UK.