You are here: silicon.com > Networks > WebWatch

WebWatch

Internet beats high street for Christmas shopping

Avoiding the crowds online

Tags: festive, christmas, online shopping, high street

By Tim Ferguson

Published: 29 November 2006 17:25 GMT

This year Britons will spend more money buying presents online than they will on the high street in the run-up to Christmas.

Brits will spend 55 per cent of their Christmas shopping budget on presents bought online, a new survey by Nielsen/Netratings has found. On average, people will spend £237 online as opposed to £197 on the high street.

Around 70 per cent of Brits will buy presents online this Christmas, according to the research.

With a record-breaking Christmas for e-tailers on the cards, convenience was cited as one of the main reasons for buying presents online, with 34 per cent of those surveyed citing it as a factor. Twenty-three per cent of respondents said they wanted to avoid crowds while 17 per cent hated the idea of queuing.

Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst for Nielsen/Netratings, told silicon.com that Christmas is particularly conducive time to use the internet to shop.

Read all about IT…

Check out the Editor's Blog for the silicon.com chief's take on the hot tech issues of the moment.

He said: "The convenience of the internet is particularly relevant and apparent now, compared with any other part of the year."

The survey also revealed that people aged between 35 and 44 will spend the largest proportion of their Christmas present budget online (57 per cent).

Burmaster doesn't see the findings as a real shift in shopping habits but more a reflection of the fact the internet is "permeating more and more of daily life". But he did suggest that high-street shops will need to continue to develop their online presence to avoid losing out.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure
Read and write about internet access at the airports of the world at atlarge.com. Be the first to rate an airport, win champagne...


  • Jobs
Business Analyst JDA Arthur

Business Analyst JDA Arthur competitive + benefits Birmingham With more than 450 stores in the UK and Ireland, and some 3,000 in total around the ...

BUSINESS INTELIGENCE DEVELOPER/ ANALYST - Oxfordshire

My client is a financial software house based in West Oxfordshire whose clients include large high street banks and insurance companies. They ...

Specialist Graduate Programme

Imagine 2000+ high-street branches. Finding the perfect place for you. Specialist Graduate Programme Imagine a major business with international ...

CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: