Online retailers reported a 51% increase in sales this Christmas, according to new figures.
The survey by ecommerce specialist Actinic said the 51% increase compared to the 2008 festive season backed up positive predictions for a bumper online trading year.
Overall turnover for ecommerce also showed strong gains with an average 42% increase reported. However, this was not as high as the 48% growth recorded the same time last year.
Actinic said the trend highlighted an increasing sensitivity to price among consumers as they continued to use the internet to hunt bargains.
Nick Kington, managing director at Actinic commented, “This is another impressive performance by online sellers in the SME market with many weathering the economic climate and reporting healthy increases in both order volumes and revenue.
“Some of December’s larger value item purchases might be attributed to customers wanting to benefit from the 15% VAT rate before its return to 17.5% this month.
Only time will tell either way.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2010