Member Article

Online Christmas Shopping Record

Half of all adults bought some of all their Christmas shopping online this year, according to e-commerce trade body IMRG. Shoppers spent £4.98billion online in the ten weeks before Christmas, compared with £3.33 billion during the same period in 2004.

Jo Tucker, IMRG’s MD commented: “A step change happened in retailing at Christmas. Consumers have spoken. They want the convenience and choice that online shopping provides. Many just don’t have time to trudge the streets hoping goods are in stock. There can no longer be any doubt that the internet is a major part of the retail landscape, and that it will dominate the retail agenda for the next several years.”

Sales peaked during the week commencing 5 December, when £653 million was spent online. Transactions worth £584 million were recorded for both the previous week and the following week. Twenty four million British consumers shopped online in 2005, spending on average £816 each during the year, and £208 in the run-up to Christmas.

IMRG’s CEO, James Roper, said: “A surprising number of goods are still either hard to find or unavailable online. Large gaps exist in the supply market, such as high-end fashion and real estate. Even leading retailers often only make a small proportion of their total inventory available online, and many don’t bother with spares at all. So huge growth potential remains for the merchants who plug these holes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .