February online sales soared over 11% in value YOY – but the future looks tougher
Overall retail sales volumes rose by 2.5% this February year-on-year and the value of online sales ballooned by 11.4%. But the home delivery expert Parcelhero cautions that the Iran conflict could take the wind from retail’s sails.
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales bulletin for February 2026 reveals a rise in the amount Brits bought (volume) and the amount we spent (value) compared to the same month last year. The picture looked particularly healthy for e-commerce sales, says the home delivery expert Parcelhero. It cautions, however, that February’s gains could be reversed if the Iran conflict has the impact many analysts fear.
Parcelhero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks MILT, says: ‘On the face of it, there is much to cheer about in the retail sales estimates for February. Sales volumes – the amount we bought – rose by 2.5% year-on-year (YOY) overall, and the picture was even rosier for e-commerce sales. The amount Brits spent (known as online spending values) leaped by 11.4% YOY, comparing February 2026 with February 2025.
‘Of course, monthly retail figures are notoriously volatile, which is why the ONS is increasingly concentrating on three-monthly figures. Here again, though, overall retail sales volumes were 3% higher for the three months to February 2026 than for the same period last year. Even more strikingly, online spending values soared 12.1% YOY when comparing the three months to February 2026 with the same three-month period to February 2025.
‘However, the picture was a little more mixed if we compare February’s results to the previous month. Overall retail sales volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.4% in February compared to January, with non-store retailing volumes (the category which is primarily made up of online sales) falling by 0.5%. Encouragingly, though the amount of goods we bought online in February may have slipped, online sales values (the amount of money we spent) rose by 0.6% over January, perhaps indicating we were prepared to splash out a little more on higher value items once the January sales were finished.
‘Overall, these figures show retail in February 2026 was considerably healthier than in the same month last year. The elephant in the room, however, is President Trump’s attack on Iran. Right at the end of the month, on 28 February, the US and Israel launched surprise air strikes on Iran and the conflict has widened since then. The retail estimates for March are expected on 24 April. These will give an early indication of how significantly consumer confidence has been knocked.
‘Ultimately, however fickle or strong key retail periods of the year prove to be, it’s those stores with a combined High Street and online offering that are most protected against unexpected events. Parcelhero’s influential report “2030: Death of the High Street” has been discussed in Parliament. It reveals that retailers must develop an omnichannel approach, embracing both online and physical store sales. Read the full report at: https://newsroom.parcelhero.com/deathofthehighstreetreport.pdf