Around one in five sales this Christmas took place online in the UK, rather than on the high street, expressandstar.com reports.
Independent retail consultant Richard Hyman has claimed that the 2013 festive period was a bumper one for online shops, as more consumers than ever chose clicks over bricks when it came to their Christmas shopping. In fact, he claimed that around 20 per cent of all transactions took place online, up from the 15 per cent recorded in the run up to Christmas 2012.
Hyman went on to note that, when taking out food purchases, the total reached even higher still – hitting nearly a third by December 25.
Elsewhere, Hyman found that online purchases were increasingly being made immediately before the big day, with the week running up to Christmas seeing an annual sales increase of 56 per cent.
This, it is thought, could be attributed to people being more experienced using online shops, or better delivery options available to those who left it to the very last minute. Hyman, meanwhile, cited click-and-collect as another reason for the trend, with consumers still able to purchase from the comfort of their own home, then go pick up the reserved item with minimum fuss.
Speaking to ft.com of the results, Hyman explained: “It was a record Christmas for online, there is no doubt about that.
“Click and collect made it a much bigger Christmas than it has ever been before. It allowed customers to shop right up to the wire.”
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