In the wake of what the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has described as the “worst Christmas for retailers in the last decade”, a new report shows that online stores outperformed the high street by eight to one.
The report, by the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), shows that e-retail sales between November and December were up 20 per cent on the same period last year.
Figures indicate that half of the UK population shopped online during the festive period, spending more than £3 billion and representing 6.6 per cent of all U.K retail sales.
The IMRG claims that many reports warning of undelivered purchases in time for Christmas proved unfounded, with many online retailers guaranteeing the delivery of late orders or refusing to take orders at later dates to ensure customers weren’t let down.
James Roper, chief executive at the IMRG, said: “Growth was slower this Christmas than last year but the entire marketplace has been more difficult and e-commerce hasn’t escaped that.
“It has still done well and, as the take-up of broadband increases and more retailers invest in their online sites, more shopping will move online.”
Electrical goods, an area suffering heavy losses on the high street, were popular among online shoppers. Figures were a massive 42 per cent higher than the same period last year.
In particular, sales of MP3 players rocketed, with 38 per cent of sales carried out online.
The report suggests that one reason for the surge in online shopping this Christmas had much to do with where the weekends fell.
It suggests that, as Christmas day fell on Saturday, online sales fall-off occurred later in the month, with many consumers waiting until the week before in order to capitalise on highly anticipated bargains.
Brent Hoberman, chief executive at Lastminute.com, said: “Each holiday season the consumer seems to be leaving their Christmas shopping later and later. This year we sold 33 per cent of gifts in the two weeks prior to Christmas day, compared to 21 per cent last year.”