The 2026 UK ecommerce statistics are now published on the Ecommerce Scotland website, the home of the conference we run in Glasgow. The 2026 ecommerce statistics on the Ecommerce Scotland website bring together key figures for UK online sales, B2C, B2B, omnichannel and Click & Collect, plus marketing channels, international markets and Scotland. The data runs to October 2026 and comes from the ONS and other linked sources, with a link to each so you can check it.
There is a lot on the page, so here are the findings we think are most useful if you sell online in the UK.
Online is now 28.8% of retail sales
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the proportion of retail sales made online was 28.8% in August 2026, up from 28.4% in July 2026. The ONS also reports that online spending values rose 10.1% in the three months to August 2026 compared with the three months to August 2025.
For context, the House of Commons Library notes that the online share is significantly above the pre-pandemic level of approximately 20% in 2019, although below the 37% peak in February 2021.
What it means for you: online has settled at a much higher level than before 2020 and is still growing. If your website is treated as a side channel, you are planning for a market that no longer exists.
Search is still the biggest slice of ad spend
The Advertising Association and WARC report that 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) took £11.5bn and retail media £3.7bn. AA/WARC forecasts £50.5bn in 2026 and £53.5bn in 2027.
One caution from the source page: AA/WARC changed its method in April 2026, so these figures are not like-for-like with earlier years.
What it means for you: more money is chasing the same shoppers every year. Measure profit on ad spend by channel so you know where extra budget will pay back, and where it will only raise your costs.
Conversion rates by channel in 2026
Ruler Analytics publishes 2026 benchmarks for Retail & eCommerce showing the share of sessions that convert by traffic source. AI referral converts at 4.4%, email at 2.3%, direct at 2.3%, paid search at 2.1%, referral at 2.0% and organic search at 2.0%. The overall figure is 2.4%. Ruler's 2026 benchmarks use a new basis (over 5 million conversions, including forms and calls), so they are not comparable with earlier years.
What it means for you: compare your own conversion rate by channel with these figures. If email or paid search sits well below them, that is a good place to start testing.
Click & Collect still needs work
A Clix Technologies survey from April 2024, reported by Retail Insight Network, found that 69% of UK shoppers use Click & Collect services. The same source reports that 79% of consumers believe the service needs improvement, citing issues such as queues (23%) and inconvenient opening hours (14%).
What it means for you: if you have shops or collection points, the service is popular, and a smoother collection experience is an opportunity. These figures are from 2024, so treat them as a guide.
Scotland: connected shoppers, limited data
ONS retail sales data covers Great Britain as a whole and does not split out Scotland, so Scotland-only ecommerce figures are scarce. The Scottish Government's Scottish Household Survey 2023 found that 91% of households in Scotland had home internet access in 2023, a record high. The House of Commons Library reports that 8.2% of jobs in Scotland were in retail in 2024.
What it means for you: Scottish customers are online, and retail is a major employer here. Use national figures with care when planning for Scotland and check your own analytics for local patterns.
What to do next
- Open the full UK ecommerce statistics page and note the figures closest to your sector.
- Compare your conversion rate, channel mix and ad costs with the benchmarks above.
- Pick one channel to test over the next quarter and set a clear profit target for it.
Every figure on the page names its source and the date it covers, so you can check it before using it in a plan or a board paper. If you would like help turning the numbers into a growth plan for your business, you can book a growth call with the INDEZ team.
Courtesy Unsplash: Sarah Elizabeth
