Online shopping hit record levels this Christmas, as sales rose 31.1 per cent during December compared to the same month the previous year, reports mirror.co.uk.
According to ft.com, figures from BDO also showed that online sales increased by a huge 56 per cent in the week before Christmas. This means ecommerce sites performed much better than some of their high street counterparts.
In fact, Richard Hyman, the independent retail consultant, estimated that purchases made online accounted for 20 per cent of all retail sales over the festive period – up from the 15 per cent share seen last year. When only non-food items are taken into account, online sales made up a third of all Christmas purchases.
Furthermore, Christine Cross, the independent retail adviser, explained that click and collect services have become popular in recent years, as 30 per cent of all online retail orders are for click and collect.
“People trusted [online] this year,” she said. “They knew it would get there. In previous years, it has always been a bit of a wing and a prayer.”
Not only is confidence in online retailers delivering rising, the extreme bad weather also helped keep people away from the high street, favouring shopping on their phones and tablets instead.
