According to industry body IMRG, about 2% of all electrical goods will be bought online this Christmas with an increase in online sales of 42% since April.
It is one of the least loved rituals of Christmas. The annual slog up and down the High Street to do the Christmas shopping is regarded as a chore at best and sheer purgatory by many The crowds, the transport, the weather, the endless renditions of
So Here It Is Merry Christmas can all combine to make it one of the most stressful experiences of the year.
For online retailers, the disillusion with the High Steeet, especially in London, is one huge early Christmas present. Provisional figures suggest that the year’s festive season will smash all records for internet shopping. Shoppers seem to have finally overcome their security fears about entering their credit card details on a web site while the retailers have vastly sharpened up their logistics and delivery service. Internet sales during the Christmas trading season could double to a record £3.3 billion this year while the High Street braces itself for a gloomy December, according to one forecast This comes as online retail sales passed £1 billion for each of the last five months for the first time ever.

Flow of commerce gains pace
British businesses sold £23.3 billion worth of goods and services over the Internet last year, an increase of 39% on the previous year. But this huge amount of commerce — equivalent to £400 per person — was still just 1.2% of all transactions, according to the Office for National Statistics. Of the total, £6.4 billion or 27% was sold to households, with businesses still accounting for the lion’s share. Two thirds of the web-based transactions were for goods while services accounted for the second largest share at 29%. However, the growth rate for businesses buying over the net is slower. Last year total UK business purchases grew by 14% to £20.1 billion.