December 22, 2009 - The UK retail industry is predicting the highest online spend in history this festive period, with British consumers expected to spend £8.9 billion on e-commerce websites. We give a round up of some recently published statistics indicating a bumper year for online business.
As reported by 192business.com , some of the online retail stats published so far this year show an overall growth trend for companies that do business via a website. They include:
Mega Monday
Customers went online earlier than previous years, according to Visa Europe, with Monday 30th November the year’s busiest online shopping day. They predicted that 4.5 million purchases would be made that day, with trading peaking during the periods of lunch and after 7pm.
Versus 2008
IMRG Capgemini retail index found that in the UK, 9th December was the busiest day for most online retailers, with retailers like Firebox and Boden claiming their busiest shopping days in the same week. Based on these previous trend figures, UK predictions seem to favour Monday 7th December with an additional peak on the 14th.
The USA & Black Friday
In the USA, online retail sales peaked with ‘Black Friday’ – the day after Thanksgiving where thoughts turn to Christmas gift buying and retailers use special Black Friday promotions to take advantage of consumer willingness to spend. Figures released by Comscore put the value of Black Friday (27th November) at $595 million – an 11% increase on 2008 figures.
Online spend to reach £8.9billion
Whether e-retail spend peaks on 30 November or later in December, the UK retail industry is united by the fact that they are expecting online spend to be the highest ever. The Centre for Retail Research estimates UK Christmas spend to reach £8.9billion – accounting for 20% of the total Christmas spend.
93% plan to spend online
Similarly eDigitalResearch and IMRG have published figures showing that 93% of people surveyed plan to shop online for Christmas gifts with 71% looking to buy more than half of their gift lists via the internet.
Customers confident to spend more online
The 2009 Consumer eTail Report from GSI Commerce claims that a quarter of people are willing to spend more than £1000 on a single product online. In addition, fewer customers will cap their online spending – only 32% of people said they would not spend anymore than £250 online, compared to 48% in 2008, perhaps showing greater consumer confidence in online security and fulfilment?
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Follow this link to see the trend stats in their original context.
