Almost three quarters of Brits (71 per cent) did more than half their Christmas shopping online in 2014, the latest research from Wipro Digital reveals.
In comparison, just 45 per cent of Brits did the same a year earlier, and the rising popularity of buying Christmas presents online is set to continue in 2015. Online shoppers are also more likely to spend more in total than consumers who buy in-store. The average online shopper spent £292 over the Christmas period, whereas traditional in-store consumers parted with £179, reports information-age.com. In the US, $400 worth of purchases were made online, compared with $302 in-store.
Only six per cent of Brits and four per cent of Americans think they will buy more in-store over this year’s festive period. Online shopping is becoming increasingly common because consumers can often get a better price online and find the convenience and ease of purchasing on the internet is rising, reports retailtimes.co.uk.
Avinash Rao, global head of Wipro Digital, said consumers do not believe there are many advantages to shopping in-store rather than online.
“Even online, omni-channel retailers are losing customers to internet pure-plays,” he explained. “Bricks and mortar retailers are having difficulty delivering on the benefits of omni-channel retailing. Online pure-play retailers are succeeding as they understand customer expectations and are exceptionally good at delivering against them.”