Online shoppers go up 50% spend 5 bn pounds during Christmas |
|
|
Published
:
Fri, 20 Jan 2006 16:20
|
LONDON: Online shoppers spent as much as 5 billion pounds buying goods during the 10 weeks leading to Christmas while online retailers had their sales rising by 50 per cent during the time compared with the previous year, according to a recent study.
Industry body the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), which conducted the study, said shoppers have become confident of the internet and the trend is evident throughout the year climaxing during the festive season.
Through the year, the amount spent online on purchases of goods and services grew 32 per cent to 19.2 billion, IMRG said. As many as 24 million shoppers used online facilities during the year, spending an average of 816 pounds each during the year -- 208 pounds over the Christmas period. The shopping activity was at its best during the week starting 5 December, when 653 million pounds were spent online, IMRG added.
IMRG's chief executive James Roper, however, said quite a few goods are yet to figure on online sales. Even leading retailers often only make a small proportion of their total inventory available online. There is a huge potential awaiting the merchants there if they plug these holes, he added.
Several supermarkets and retail chains made use of the net to increase their sales. Boots said its internet arm sells more goods than its largest store; Tesco has one million customers at its online stores in November and December; department store John Lewis had 100 million pounds worth of sales from its online and catalogue business during 2005.
However, HMV was one of a number of retailers that suffered because of online sales during Christmas as supermarkets had a sway. Music and video store MVC too had substantial losses during the period.
IMRG predicts that online spending in the country will go up by 36 per cent during 2006 at 26 billion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
U.S. online shoppers spent $25 billion in one week, says study 