Last week two major UK retailers announced their latest e-commerce sales figures.  Supermarket chain, Tesco, reported a slight contraction in the level of growth seen in the realm of safe shopping online, while Debenhams noted the increased dominance of m-commerce.

Online and in-store sales delivered a combined growth of 1.1 per cent for Tesco, in part as a result of the fact that the firm opened fewer new stores than in previous periods and also closed a number of outlets in certain parts of the country.

In a statement, it confirmed that while the increase in online grocery orders had been muted in the past quarter, it was expected and acted as a reflection of the strategic changes that the company has made to improve the quality of its e-commerce offerings.

Internet Retailing points out that this slowdown in growth also comes in the wake of the decision to increase the minimum spend for free click and collect orders to £40.

For Debenhams, the news that over half of all orders its customers place via safe shopping online come from portable devices is a more positive revelation. And it reported a seven per cent increase in e-commerce sales over the past three months.

Company spokesperson, Michael Sharp, said that the firm is continuing to diversify its online offerings, as well as tying this in with its multiplatform strategies, to ensure in-store experiences are enhanced, according to Internet Retailing.

He also admitted that sales had struggled to gain momentum since the start of the year, with the clothing segment being particularly sluggish. But when looking to the future, he expressed confidence in the ability of his company to secure continued improvements in the long term and ride the m-commerce wave as far as possible.