Retail: Record Internet Sales

This is almost three times the daily average for 2007, which was £126m. Forty percent of yesterday’s tally was spent outside traditional retail hours, either before 9am or after 6pm. The peak of the day, however, was between 11am and 12am when goods for a value of £32.4m will be purchased.

Chris Russell, director at eDigitalResearch.com, says, “The evening internet shopping peak has become a standard phenomenon due to consumers’ acquisition of broadband at home. The Monday evening peak is an hour later than last year - between 9pm and 10pm - and is now 87% as high as the midday peak, up from 80% last year. In contrast to the evening peak, which this year is later, the midday peak, between 11am and 12am, began two hours earlier than last year’s lunchtime slot, when the highest sales were recorded between 1pm and 2pm.”

Each year there is a large surge in online sales in the run-up to Christmas, but the current upswing is unprecedented, with 87% of 1,200 people surveyed by eDigitalResearch saying they will buy Christmas presents online this year, and 63% saying they would do half or more of their Christmas shopping on the web. The worsening economic conditions are encouraging consumers to use the internet, where they know they will find the best prices, but time saving and convenience remain the primary drivers, voted by 100% and 79% respectively.

James Roper, CEO at IMRG, the industry body for e-retail, says, “As 2007 progressed, e-retail became a perfect storm of proliferation when the confluence of four different internet shopping-related phenomena created ideal growth conditions: availability, functionality, capacity, familiarity. The message to consumers is: with demand so high, shop early to have the best chance of goods being in stock, and successful delivery. The message to retailers is: don’t get caught out by this huge consumer appetite for online shopping.”