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Comment : “Online sales were up 17.8%, the fastest growth since December 2011, when they had risen by 18.5%”

Today’s news show that figures from the British Retail Consortium highlight a boom in online spending for Christmas 2012.

Online sales were up 17.8%, the fastest growth since December 2011, when they had risen by 18.5%

Without the rise in website sales for goods other than food, spending would have fallen

  • There was also a boom in online sales for health and beauty goods, along with footwear and clothing
  • The most popular gifts people bought online were electrical goods such as ereaders, smartphones and tablet computers
  • UK retail sales values were up 0.3% on a like-for-like basis from December 2011, when they were up 2.2% on the preceding year
  • On a total basis, sales were up 1.5%, against a 4.1% rise in December 2011

Mark Haviland, MD of CPA network Rakuten LinkShare comments:

“Today’s figures from the BRC show that the online channel is becoming absolutely vital for retailers. This is the channel that is providing growth for British retailers in the omni-channel environment. As apparel and footwear have been identified by the BRC as growth areas, we delved into our own CPA network data from December to explore where this growth was coming from, and found that sales of clothing, shoes and accessories peak on Cyber Monday in December. This is compared to luxury and high end brands, which make more sales in the final few days before Christmas.

As shopping on the internet becomes increasingly popular, retailers need to invest in technology which enables them to target potential online customers with the right content, on the right device, at the right time. The BRC is right to identify the investment in web, mobile and tablet technology as a key driver of online sales, as today’s shopper has come to expect a sophisticated, connected shopping experience, whatever device they are using to browse and shop.”

photo credit: Elizabeth Thomsen via photopin cc

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