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Online Stores Prepared for a 'Happy Clickmas'

Posted on: Friday, 9 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Martin Hickman

Internet retailers are set for a £5bn bonanza this Christmas as shoppers desert the high street and order presents over the web from work and home.

A total of 38 per cent of adults are expected to buy at least one gift online this year, almost double the number four years ago, according to market research.In total, 24 million Britons are expected to spend [Pound]5bn online in what analysts are calling "Happy Clickmas".The "e-tail" boom comes at a bad time for bricks and mortar retailers, who have struggled through a tough year hit by rising interest rates and a stalled housing market.The CBI warned last week that retailers were braced for their worst Christmas in modern times after the lowest November takings for 22 years.The employers' group said that shoppers were engaged in a game of "cat and mouse" with stores, hoping that by holding off, the high street would be forced to offer discounts earlier than the New Year sales.In the virtual world, business is going from strength to strength for big players such as Amazon, Play.com, and eBay

. Some traditional retailers with a strong web presence such as Argos, Tesco, Comet and Woolworths are also expected to do well.Many shoppers say they would prefer to order presents online rather than traipse round crowded and chilly streets.Consumers will spend an average of [Pound]336 on presents this Christmas against [Pound]334 last year, according to a phone poll of 1,000 adults in October carried out by Mintel. One in five of them expects to splash out more than [Pound]500. Some 38 per cent will buy a gift online."The clear message from our research is that consumer confidence has recovered during 2005 and there really will be some growth in retail sales this Christmas," Richard Perks, Mintel's director of retail research, said."But this Christmas is set to be a tough one for high street retailers - Tesco on the one hand and internet retailers on the other will take the majority of the growth and the high street is going to be squeezed in between. This is also going to be the first Christmas where auction sites, particularly eBay, have a noticeable impact."The growth of broadband is one of the factors credited by the company for popularising internet shopping. Another factor may be that some of the predicted best-sellers for this year - music, videos, DVDs and computer software - are easily delivered by post.It forecasts that electrical goods will be popular this year but there will be a further decline in traditional toys and games.Royal Mail estimates that some 70 million parcels will be delivered in the run-up to Christmas, compared with 55 million last year. It says 55 per cent of e-tailers have been offering free delivery, price promotions or gift-wrapping services to entice shoppers early.Royal Mail's Richard Roche said: "Internet retailers are concentrating much more this year on driving earlier sales to ensure they capture their share of the market."TOP SELLERS FOR ONE E- TAILER* AMAZON'S BEST-SELLING GIFTS (in no particular order)- Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life by Alan McArthur and Steve Lowe- Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Questions by New Scientist magazine- Now That's What I Call Music! Volume 62, CD by various artists- The Ashes three-disc DVD box set - England V Australia 2005- Buzz! The Music Quiz for PlayStation 2- 20Q (an electronic guessing game)- Original Rubik's Cube (The classic puzzle)- Rival PP15 Pink Popcorn Popper (popcorn maker)- CyberHome CH-DVD400 multi-region capable DVD player

Source: Belfast Telegraph

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