- 23
- Nov
As the fear of online shopping fades into the past, consumers are turning in droves to online shopping. They purchase everything from cars to secured loans, purses to insurance.
Online retailers are stealing market share from the High Street, according to experts, with this year’s Christmas spending set to soar 40 percent. Broadband take-up, improvements in the selection and the growing popularity of ‘social networks’ have driven Internet shopping into a multi million dollar industry.
Consumer confidence in online shopping and lifestyle changes will also boost online retailers’ sales.
James Roper, chief executive of e-tailing trade body, Interactive Media in Retail Group, said Internet shopping had become a “traditional part of Christmas” for many consumers.
Only 10 years ago, 17 million UK shoppers spent 200 million pounds online in the 10 weeks prior to Christmas. This year, 25 million people are expected to spend 7 billion pounds in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This is 4 million pounds every hour day and night.
That would represent a 40 percent increase on the 5 billion pounds spent online the same period last year and is more than double the 3.3 billion pounds recorded in 2004.
A round-table discussion among key players, Stuart Rowe, spokesman for entertainment goods e-tailer Play.com, said: “We can see, not just a good Christmas this Christmas, but real long-term growth.
“That’s going to come from the High Street. A lot of High Street players are coming online, but we see that as a positive thing.
“It’s going to grow the market, and get High Street consumers used to shopping online.
“It adds to the confidence of the online arena when you start to see brands with heritage coming online.”
Heather Hopkins, vice president of research for competitive intelligence services firm Hitwise UK, said 2 percent of online sales are coming through ‘social networks,’ such as Myspace and Bebo. That figure will grow to 3 percent over Christmas.
