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2010 another record year for internet sales

24 January 2011

UK shoppers spent £6.8bn online in December 2010, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. This is an increase of 25% more than in December 2009 and an increase of 7% on November 2009 sales.

This is a reflection of the overall growth in online sales but was also helped by the wintry weather which helped persuade more shoppers to but online rather than battle the snow covered high street. This helped retailers with a strong online presence but was not good news for some of the more traditional bricks and mortar retailers.

UK shoppers spent a total of £58.8bn online in 2010, 18% more than in 2009. In 2011 spending is expected to continue to increase at the same pace with total online estimated revenue of £69bn.

Although the inclement weather helped encourage online sales there were issues delivering the ordered goods on time. Delivery networks across the country were severely impacted by the adverse weather conditions. A study by Econsultancy found more than a quarter of customers received their Christmas orders late while one in six reported that goods ordered online did not arrive in time for Christmas day.

However despite all this IMRG chief executive James Roper said this did not appear to have dented customer confidence.

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