Online Sales Soar as the High Street Plays Blame Game
Despite concerns over the credit crunch, recent sub-prime mortgage debacle and potential downturn in the UK property market, people are still spending money. And whilst high street retailers are predicting the worst Christmas on record, the online world is reaping the rewards.
According to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), today December 10th was the busiest online shopping day EVER! (hopefully not the case – I’m sure next year will be even bigger), with sales upwards of £370 million, almost three times the average daily amount spent online during the rest of the year.
The report suggests that 40 percent of these sales were conducted outside of normal shopping hours and sales peaked between 11-12am with sales of £32.4 million.
The IMRG estimate that online shoppers will spend a staggering £17.6 billion this Christmas, an 82 percent increase on the previous year and contributing to a total online spend of £53.3 billion over the full year.
Ironically, industry insiders are crediting uncertainty in the financial and property markets for such unprecedented growth in online sales, suggesting that consumers are abandoning the high street in favour of Internet Retailers believing the medium offers the most competitive prices as well as the most convenient way of shopping.