The volume of overseas customers searching for UK retailers increased across all devices and especially on mobile.Fashion was the most searched for category by overseas consumers, experiencing a 64% jump compared with last year, while beauty searches increased by 50%.Martijn Bertisen, retail director at Google said the result was supported by the weakness of the pound, which helped position UK brands favourably internationally.

There was strong growth from European countries, with Croatia showing the strongest appetite for UK retailers. Mobile search volumes increased by 106% in this country, revealed the Online Retail Monitor.The study measures traffic for the online retail sector, and is considered the equivalent of footfall for store retailing.In the UK, search volumes on mobile devices increased by 16% in the fourth quarter prompted by Black Friday and Christmas deals. The top trending categories were consumer electronics.Mobile demand is now largely coming from smartphones, with some regions across the UK even experiencing triple digit growth in the fourth quarter.“In this mobile-first world, having a great user experience is crucial for our retailers. A recent Google study found that only five of the top 20 UK retailers’ mobile sites load in less than 2 seconds,” said Martijn Bertisen.“This quarter’s figures provide further evidence that the EU is an increasingly important market for UK retailers and that consumers from the continent are increasingly likely to be experiencing the British retail offer through their smartphones. The challenges and opportunity for UK retailers to capitalise on this rapid growth persist and British businesses remain focussed on tailoring their e-commerce offer to utilise the strength and popularity of UK retail beyond our own borders, which shows little sign of diminishing,” added BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.