The notoriously fickle British weather can play a sizeable role in determining whether people do their shopping online or in store, internetretailing.net reports.
According to new figures from takeaway ordering platform Just Eat, the weather is responsible for huge fluctuations in user numbers, as the rain sends people flocking to their devices to avoid going out.
It found that recent trading levels were up on management expectations, a trend which can quite simply be put down to “the unusually wet weather in the UK and northern Europe.”
Q1 2014 saw a 51 per cent increase on the same period of 2013, which could be a result of the disparate weather conditions. Whilst 2013 saw a cold and snowy Easter, Q1 was largely fine and dry. This wasn’t been the case for 2014, though, where wet weather and floods have plagued large swathes of Britain.
Just Eat’s figures could indicate a wider trend across Britain, where wet weather sends shoppers to their devices instead of their High Streets, to avoid getting soaked.
Commenting, the company’s chief executive, David Buttress told telegraph.co.uk: “During a period of unusually wet winter weather in several of our key markets, our consumers ordered more takeaway online and via mobile than ever before.”
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