 |
| A luxury home festive scene set by this plush Claude Armchair in Prussian Blue and matching Georgette Footstool In Prussian Blue, both available at Made.com |
New research from market intelligence agency Mintel reveals that as many as one in five (20%) Brits are expected to shop online more for this Christmas, rising to 24% of men and 28% of 16-24 year olds. The top three reasons why Brits shopped online for gifts last year were to get cheaper prices (55%), to avoid the crowds (49%) and to shop when it suited them (49%).
According to the new research, Mintel estimates that total UK retail sales will reach £42.2 billion, a growth of 2.5% this December.
Richard Perks, Director of Retail Research at Mintel, said: “When it comes to Christmas shopping, it is increasingly artificial to make a distinction between online and in-store as the two increasingly are working together to suit shoppers’ needs. We are seeing pure players recognise the advantages to having a physical offering, signified by Amazon and Zalando’s interest in moving to the high street. At the same time, a number of high street retailers now price match against online retailers, trying to fight back against the continued belief among shoppers that it's cheaper to buy online.”
Overall, 93% of Brits bought gifts for Christmas 2015. 86% bought gifts in-store and 76% purchased online. Just under one in ten (8%) Brits bought all of their Christmas gifts online, compared to one in five (18%) who bought all of their Christmas gifts in-store.
Richard adds.“The economic background for consumers continues to be favourable. Real incomes are rising and unemployment is falling. There are some worrying signs though. Consumer credit has risen back to record levels and the housing market has weakened a little but overall, the prospects for Christmas remain good.”
No comments:
Post a Comment