Jersey’s Retail Sales figures show an incomplete picture

Thursday 03 March 2016

Jersey’s fourth quarter retail sales figures for 2015 show a rise of 1% year on year, compared to a rise in the UK over the same period of 4.5%.

However, retail sales in Jersey do not tell the full story because unlike the UK, they exclude online sales and are only for bricks and mortar stores.

In the UK, the Government’s Office of National Statistics have included internet sales for many years and have even produced a completely separate internet sales index since 2008.  

UK online sales have increased year on year in volume by 13.3% (2) with over half of online sales being made through mobile devices (3).

It is estimated that over 15% of retail spending in the UK is through online sales (4) and this is likely to be even higher in Jersey. It means local online retailers such as Mypadci.com are not included in Jersey’s sales figures.

Managing Director of Mypad, Paul Clark said: “Without the right data it is difficult to understand fully what is going on within retailing in Jersey. We know that internet sales are rising and the high street struggling, but we don’t have any reliable figures to show what percentage of consumer spend in Jersey is going to internet retailers.

"The Island is buoyant with the consumer preparing to invest in their home with confidence - the property market is recovering and beginning to show growth.

"And we have seen a growth of 18% across all categories with the website being used more whether this is for actual sales or people simply browsing on the internet. Already this year we have seen a continuing growth with February 2016 showing a sales increase of 22% year on year. We certainly continue to invest digitally with improvements to our website.

“You only need to look at the figures from the UK which show that of the total non food sales in January 2016, almost 21.5 percent are online (5). This sector of retailing continues to grow at a rapid pace. There are several local companies who are now internet based retailers serving the local market. We need to recognise this growing sector so we can get a complete picture of retailing in Jersey.”