Analysts predict 87 billion online spend for 2013

Monday, January 21, 2013 - 10:57 by Graham Miller

The latest estimates from IMRG Capgemini, suggest that it will be another bumper year for safe shopping online in the UK, with a record amount of 87 billion likely to be spent over the coming months.

This represents yet another period of significant growth for the e-commerce market, with sales up by 12 per cent when compared with 2012.

In the meantime, there is general pessimism about the state of the high street in the face of further consumers migrating to online shopping, rather than heading to local stores.

Analysts, Chris Webber, said that the growth in the use of smart devices was playing a major role in shaping consumer habits, with consumers now harnessing a web-connected handset to carry out safe shopping online for longer periods than they actually make voice calls.

Last year, the e-commerce market accounted for 78 billion in spending, which represents roughly 20 per cent of the amount spent in-store. This means that while online shopping is still behind the high street when looking at the raw figures, in actuality, it is a much healthier industry altogether.

2012 also saw a 304 per cent rise in sales made from portable devices and this seems to be breathing new life into the wider e-commerce market.

IMRG spokesperson, Andre McClelland, said that consumers are increasingly turning to smartphones and tablets to allow them to shop at times when this was previously impossible. This includes during the daily commute or even while they are actually out and about on the high street.

While some had suggested that e-commerce sales would only grow in line with inflation over the course of 2013, other analysts seem convinced that there is still room for expansion in the market on the cards this year.