Lockdown online sales boost

09/06/2021 15:39

Charity retailers able to sell online throughout the first three months of 2021 saw an increase in online sales of 34.8% according to the Charity Retail Association’s latest Quarterly Market Analysis.

With charity shops required to close during the quarter due to the covid-19 pandemic, consumers demonstrated an increased willingness to buy second-hand items online. The most frequent online marketplace used by charity retailers remains eBay, followed by individual charity retailers’ websites, amazon and then a wide range of other online marketplaces.

Members can access our Quarterly Market Analysis research here, which includes information on:

• the volume of customer sales lost due to shop closures across the quarter
• online sales including average online transaction values
• preparations for reopening 

Whilst the growth in online sales during the lockdown has been welcome it remains the case that charity retailers have nonetheless experienced a dramatic fall in customer sales due to the closure of physical shops which the charity retail sector depends on for the vast majority of sales.