We may be just about to enter a double dip recession, but still the internet is proving it’s value to business, with stores reporting a 25% jump in sales in December. This is a pretty good figure no matter how you look at it, although we all know how bad the weather was in December, so no doubt alot of people decided to shop on line, rather than go to work, or more importantly, the shops.
But without a doubt these figures illustrate that more and more people are viewing the internet as a place to do business, and this can only make a dental practices’ web site more and more valuable as time goes on.
Sales were up 7% on the previous month and increased 25% when compared to the previous December, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index,Sales of clothing and alcohol saw the strongest growth in the Christmas trading period up 40% and 36% respectively during December.
Online retail surpassed expectations as shoppers spent a total of £58.8bn online throughout the year, an 18% increase on the previous year.
Online retail was expected to grow 13%.
The e-commerce research group forecasts 18% growth in 2011 and expects consumers to spend £69 billion with online retailers.
James Roper, chief executive at IMRG, says: “December saw an incredible jump in online sales as a result of the weather conditions and it’s reassuring to see that despite the coverage of delivery problems, consumer confidence was not affected.
“Growing confidence and reliance on e-retail during times of adversity, whether that’s harsh weather conditions or belt-tightening as a result of the economy, has been reflected in the impressive growth throughout 2010.”
· Half of main grocery shoppers have never bought groceries online, and one in four are online grocery shoppers who have not done so in the last six months.
· More than one in four online grocery shoppers use it mainly to do their ’big shop’ for special occasions.
· Overall, rather more consumers have bought electronics items in a store after checking them out on a website (26%) than have found an item in the shop which they have subsequently bought online (22%).
· Cheaper prices and wider product ranges are both mentioned as advantages of purchasing online, with 41% citing the former and 44% the latter.
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With thanks to Rosie Baker at Marketing Week for this article