UK ecommerce statistics
Key figures for UK online sales, B2C, B2B, omnichannel and Click & Collect, plus marketing channels, international markets and Scotland.
Data to October 2026, from the ONS and other linked sources
Headline figures
£537bn
retail sales in Great Britain in 2025
House of Commons Library
£127.4bn
UK online retail sales in 2024
Retail Gazette, from ONS data
28.8%
of retail sales made online, August 2026
ONS
69%
of UK shoppers use Click & Collect (2024)
Clix, 2024, via Retail Insight Network
01UK ecommerce and retail overview
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
The United Kingdom has the most advanced ecommerce market in Europe and is the third-largest globally, following China and the US.
Overall retail landscape (ONS data)
£537bn
Total retail sales value (2025)
Retail sales in Great Britain totalled £537 billion in 2025, up 4.3% on 2024. For every £1 spent, 40p went in food shops, 11p in clothing shops, 8p on fuel and 7p in household goods shops.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sector in the UK, 24 July 2026
+1.9%
Total retail sales growth (June 2026)
UK total retail sales grew 1.9% year on year in June 2026, in line with the 12-month average of 1.9%.
Source: British Retail Consortium, BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor: Online sales shine in the heat
£117bn
Retail economic output (2025)
The retail sector contributed around £117 billion in economic output (Gross Value Added) in 2025, 4.3% of the UK’s total economic output and up 2.3% on 2024.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sector in the UK, 24 July 2026
Where £1 of GB retail spending goes (2025)
Each £1 spent with retailers in Great Britain in 2025, by type of store: food shops, clothing shops, fuel, household goods shops and all other retail.
Ecommerce market size and growth (ONS data)
£127.41bn
Total UK online retail sales value (2024)
Analysis based on ONS figures indicates that the value of online retail sales in the UK reached £127.41 billion in 2024. This is a 3.4% increase from £123.3 billion in 2023.
Source: Retail Gazette, citing analysis of ONS data, February 2025
£2.8bn
Weekly online spend (May 2026)
The average weekly value of internet sales was £2.8 billion (excluding fuel) in May 2026, equal to 28.8% of all retail sales.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sales: Economic indicators
Ecommerce market (wider estimates and projections)
£170bn+
UK ecommerce market (estimate)
eMarketer describes the UK as “an ecommerce market worth over £170 billion” and forecasts that growth “will peak at 6.2% in 2026 before decelerating through 2030” (forecast).
Source: eMarketer, The State of UK Ecommerce, 26 February 2026
US$185.97bn
Projected growth (forecast to 2029)
UK ecommerce revenue is projected to reach US$185.97 billion (£141.95 billion, the ITA’s own conversion) by 2029, at 7.01% average annual growth (forecast).
Source: International Trade Administration, UK Country Commercial Guide: eCommerce, updated 3 February 2026
Online share of total retail (ONS data)
28.8%
Latest data (August 2026)
The proportion of retail sales made online was 28.8% in August 2026, up from 28.4% in July 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Retail sales, Great Britain: August 2026, 18 September 2026
+10.1%
Online spending growth (to August 2026)
Online spending values rose 1.9% in the three months to August 2026 compared with the three months to May 2026, and 10.1% compared with the three months to August 2025. August 2026 alone was 8.9% higher than August 2025.
Source: ONS
37%
Historical context
The current online share remains significantly above the pre-pandemic level of approximately 20% in 2019. Online sales peaked at 37% in February 2021 during lockdowns.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sector in the UK, 24 July 2026
Online share of GB retail sales
Internet sales as a share of all retail sales in Great Britain. The share peaked in February 2021 and has stayed well above its 2019 level.
Source: ONS; House of Commons Library, July 2026
02B2C ecommerce in the UK
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
The business-to-consumer (B2C) market is mature but continues to see steady growth.
£151bn
Projected growth (forecast to 2030)
Mintel forecasts UK online retail sales will “reach £151bn by 2030”, after 3.1% growth in 2024 and a forecast 1.7% for 2025 (forecast).
Key sectors
Nearly 25%
Fashion
Mintel says “Fashion continues to account for nearly a quarter of online sales”.
7p
Household goods, including electronics (2025)
Household goods shops, including electronics, took 7p of every £1 of retail spending in Great Britain in 2025.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sector in the UK, 24 July 2026
03B2B ecommerce in the UK
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
The business-to-business (B2B) sector continues to digitalise, but there is no reliable public figure for the size of the UK B2B ecommerce market: commercial estimates differ roughly threefold, so we no longer quote them. For an official European benchmark, see the Eurostat enterprise e-sales figures in section 07.
96%
Buyer behaviour (2020 survey)
Digital self-service is becoming the norm. “Fewer than 25% of B2B buyers in the UK ever want to interact with reps in person again... The vast majority (96%) claim they will make a purchase in a digital self-serve, end-to-end portal, spending $50,000 or more in one transaction.”
Source: McKinsey, 2020
04Omnichannel retail in the UK
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
The integration of physical and digital channels is essential: UK shoppers move between stores and screens, and online’s share of non-food sales keeps rising.
38.0%
Non-food online penetration (May 2026)
The BRC online penetration rate for non-food reached 38.0% in May 2026, up from 36.0% in May 2025.
Source: British Retail Consortium, Retail sales hot up in May, 2026
61% / 39%
Channel balance (2023)
When considering primary shopping channels, 61% of shoppers favour in-store shopping overall, while 39% shop mostly online.
Demographic differences
69%
Online and in-store shopping (Black Friday 2025)
69%
Shopping online for Black Friday
69% of UK adults planned to shop online for Black Friday 2025, while younger shoppers aged 18–27 were the most likely to shop in person (40%).
8 in 10
Black Friday purchases made online (forecast)
PwC expected eight in ten Black Friday 2025 purchases to be made online, with total Black Friday spend of £6.4bn (forecast, November 2025).
Source: PwC UK, Retail Outlook 2026
05Click & Collect in the UK
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
Click & Collect is a key part of omnichannel strategy, valued for convenience and its ability to drive incremental sales.
69%
Adoption (2024)
69% of UK shoppers use Click & Collect services, according to a Clix Technologies survey from April 2024.
Source: Retail Insight Network, UK consumers call for evolution of Click + Collect technology (Clix, 2024)
12.9%
£42.4bn
Market value (2022)
The click-and-collect economy was worth £42.4bn, representing 8.4% of the UK’s total retail spending.
Source: Barclays Corporate Banking, 2022
Impact on sales
85%
Extra items (2018 survey)
85% of shoppers reported buying additional items when collecting their orders in-store, in a 2018 Barclaycard survey.
Source: DJS Research/Barclaycard, 2018
79%
Challenges (2024)
79% of consumers believe the service needs improvement, citing issues such as queues (23%) and inconvenient opening hours (14%).
06Marketing channels
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
Digital marketing influence and spend
£40.5bn
UK digital advertising market (2025)
The UK’s digital ad market reached £40.5bn in 2025, up 10% year on year, with video up 20% to £9.3bn. Looking ahead, PwC forecasts digital advertising will hit £50 billion by 2029, with digital formats now 84% of total ad spend (forecast).
Source: IAB UK, Digital Adspend; PwC UK, From screen to stream, 2025
£46.7bn
Advertising breakdown (2025)
Total UK advertising spend was £46.7bn in 2025, up 6.4%. Search took 38.3% of the total (£17.88bn), social media (including YouTube) £11.5bn, retail media £3.7bn and other online display £2.5bn. AA/WARC forecasts £50.5bn in 2026 (+8.2%) and £53.5bn in 2027 (+5.9%). AA/WARC changed its method in April 2026 (search now excludes retail media), so these figures aren’t like-for-like with earlier years.
Source: Advertising Association/WARC, April 2026; AA/WARC Q1 2026 release, 30 July 2026
13%
Affiliate marketing (Cyber Weekend 2024)
Contributed 13% of all UK online retail revenue during Cyber Weekend 2024.
Source: Raconteur, Cyber Weekend 2024
UK advertising spend
Total UK advertising spend across all media. Figures for 2026 and 2027 are forecasts.
Note: AA/WARC changed its method in April 2026. The 2024 figure comes from before the change, so it isn’t like-for-like with 2025 onwards.
Source: AA/WARC, April 2026 and July 2026
UK ad spend by channel, 2025
UK online advertising spend by channel in 2025. Under AA/WARC’s new method, retail media is counted separately, so search no longer includes it.
Source: AA/WARC, April 2026 (new method)
Average Retail & eCommerce conversion rates by channel (2026)
Share of sessions that convert, by traffic source. Ruler’s 2026 benchmarks use a new basis (over 5 million conversions, including forms and calls), so they aren’t comparable with earlier years.
Source: Ruler Analytics, 2026 benchmarks (Retail & eCommerce)
07International ecommerce statistics
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
Europe
€911bn
European B2C ecommerce turnover (2025)
European B2C ecommerce turnover reached €911 billion in 2025, up 7% from €842 billion (4% after inflation).
Source: Ecommerce Europe & EuroCommerce, European E-commerce Report 2026, 22 September 2026
€961bn
Forecast (2026)
European B2C ecommerce turnover is forecast to reach €961 billion in 2026 (+5% nominal, about +3% after inflation). For the EU-27 alone, €715.8 billion in 2025 is forecast to rise to €757.3 billion in 2026. No 2027 forecast has been published.
Source: Ecommerce Europe & EuroCommerce, European E-commerce Report 2026; Packmedia (EU-27 split)
57%
Regional breakdown (2025)
Western Europe accounts for 57% of total European B2C ecommerce turnover (€523.1 billion in 2025) and grew the slowest, at 5%. The source and country coverage differ from earlier estimates, so this is not a like-for-like fall.
Source: Ecommerce Europe & EuroCommerce, European E-commerce Report 2026
€565bn
Europe-5 forecast (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain)
Consumers in these five economies will spend €565 billion on online purchases by 2029, accounting for nearly 21% of total retail sales in these markets (forecast made in 2024).
Source: Forrester forecast, 2024
23.59%
Enterprise e-sales (2024)
23.59% of EU enterprises made e-sales in 2024, generating 19.49% of total enterprise turnover.
Source: Eurostat, E-commerce statistics
North America (US)
US$1.72tn
US retail ecommerce sales (2027 forecast)
eMarketer forecasts that “US retail ecommerce sales will reach $1.720 trillion by 2027” (about £1.31 trillion), “hitting a milestone of more than 20% of overall retail sales”.
Global
US$7.375tn
Retail ecommerce sales (2027 forecast)
Global retail ecommerce sales are forecast to reach US$6.88 trillion (about £5.25 trillion) in 2026 and US$7.375 trillion (about £5.63 trillion) in 2027, growth of 7.2% a year (forecast).
US$7.89tn
Projected retail growth (2028 forecast)
Expected to reach US$7.89 trillion (about £6.02 trillion) by 2028 (forecast).
21.1%
Share of total retail (2026 forecast)
Ecommerce is forecast to make up 21.1% of retail sales worldwide in 2026, reaching 22.5% by 2028 (forecast).
08Ecommerce in Scotland
Last reviewed: 16 October 2026
ONS retail sales data covers Great Britain as a whole and doesn’t split out Scotland, so Scotland-only ecommerce figures are scarce. These two official statistics show the size of Scotland’s retail workforce and how connected its households are.
8.2%
Retail jobs (2024)
8.2% of jobs in Scotland were in retail in 2024, in line with the Great Britain average.
Source: House of Commons Library, Retail sector in the UK, 24 July 2026
91%
Home internet access (2023)
91% of households in Scotland had home internet access in 2023, a record high, and 91% of adults used the internet.
Source: Scottish Government, Scottish Household Survey 2023 results: internet
How to cite this page
Ecommerce Scotland (2026) UK ecommerce statistics, ecommercescotland.com/ecommerce-statistics, accessed [date].
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