The trade body said online sales were buoyed by increased shipments in the health & beauty sector due to Mother’s Day, but the travel sector underwent a steep decrease in online sales.

The figures equated to an average spend of £82 per person during the period.

Online sales of items such as perfume rose 20% between February and March, while items from the gifts sector spiked by 55% during the week before Mother’s Day.

Despite a strong start to the year, the travel sector took a nosedive in March, plummeting 15% in February and down 2% compared to March 2010.

Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, said, “March was a solid month for online retail; 14% annual growth is a healthy result and quite a contrast to the reports from the high street. The 18% growth in the index during Q1 is indicative of a new trend. Consumers are indeed tightening belts, but they’re still shopping and have simply become more strategic in their buying habits.”

Tina Spooner, the IMRG’s director of information, said, “Our recent online confidence survey revealed that over 70% of UK retailers expect online sales to remain healthy for the remainder of the year, which, when combined with the solid growth recorded by the e-Retail Sales Index, indicates that the outlook for 2011 remains positive for the UK etail industry.”