The volume of online sales on Christmas Day 2009 increased by 29% to £132m compared with last year according to a recent article from the Retail Bulletin, with Boxing Day drawing the highest sales volumes at £281m.
It seems as though many stores, both online and offline, started their promotions earlier in December, therefore you could still pick up a bargain before Christmas. This was particularly seen on Christmas Eve, which is traditionally a quieter day for online sales, but in 2009 sales rose by approx 68% to £181m compared with 2008.
David Smith, Director of Operations at IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) said: “It appears that this Christmas we saw internet activity becoming part of most people’s routine, whether e-mailing friends, catching up on social network sites or surfing for bargains. Online retailers were able to benefit from this changing consumer behaviour by achieving record sales volumes with many sales and offers starting on Christmas Eve”.
It could be argued that the weather had an impact on internet activity, with many people preferring to shop online at home rather than venture out in the snow, or not have much choice if they were snowed in!
An online research specialist, eDigitalResearch, supported the findings and commented “Our research shows that 62 per cent of respondents were online on Christmas and Boxing Day searching for bargains. What’s really encouraging is the fact that Christmas 2010 looks like it will be even more prosperous for the online retailer.”
Therefore it seems as though online activity around Christmas is changing, and it will be interesting to see how 2010 performs in comparison.
