skip to main content

2,634 shops listed | Last updated: Thursday, March 28, 2024

Monitor Add a site

Weekend proves busiest for online summer shopping

Monday, July 26, 2010 - 13:10 by Graham Miller

Share on

UK consumers are spending billions of pounds online this summer and it is estimated that the past weekend saw the largest number of people yet hitting the internet to bag a bargain.

Forecasts suggest that up to £1.3 billion will be spent over the summer months and retailers are pushing their promotional pricing and sales hard, with consumer interest having spiked on July 25th.

Each consumer safe shopping online will spend around £36 and 44 per cent of all UK consumers will be buying something online this summer, according to a recent study by Kelkoo.

62 per cent of respondents to the survey said that they chose to shop online because it was far easier to browse and buy whilst sat at a computer than under the blazing sun on the high street.

Kelkoo's Bruce Fair said that UK consumers were still cautious in retail spending after the recession and, as such, the number of bargain hunters looking for the best price has increased substantially, with many choosing the cheaper offerings associated with of e-commerce versus those to be found in traditional retail outlets.

Mr Fair also said that high street shopping at the height of summer was a stressful ordeal for many consumers and a more relaxing, secure environment for safe shopping online was being sought by an ever wider audience.

It is around a month since retailers began the summer sales season and experts believe that many UK consumers have waited for prices to fall still further, which is why the busiest day for e-commerce thus far this summer has fallen later than some may have expected.

UK consumers appear to be largely comfortable with the principles of online shopping and even when the outdoorsy summer months arrive, the improved weather does not appear to dilute the lure of e-commerce offerings.