Online and high street sales hit new high this Christmas

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - 11:16 by Graham Miller

Prior to the festive one-two of Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year, analysts had predicted that spending online would break records. But now that official figures have come through, it seems that there were benefits for bricks and mortar outlets as well, according to the Guardian.

On December 25th there was a 21 per cent rise in e-commerce sales, with John Lewis seeing a 10.7 per cent boost in its own right. The biggest dip in shopping activity occurred between the hours of 2pm and 4pm, at which point most people across the country were sitting at the dinner table eating turkey.

Three quarters of all visitors to the John Lewis website were using mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. And the retailer also reported that the Apple Watch was among the most popular items sold online on the day itself.

Retailers not only found that more people were spending online on Christmas Day, but that this spree began earlier than expected, with sales also brought ahead of schedule in order to accommodate changing trends.

Once the online activities had peaked, Boxing Day saw people hit the high street in large numbers, suggesting that the relationship between e-commerce and bricks and mortar retailers is mutually beneficial.

Footfall was 11.7 per cent higher than on Boxing Day of 2014, while the spending bonanza continued into Sunday, giving retailers a three day boost which will, no doubt, inform strategies for 2016.

Analyst, Diane Wehrle, said that shoppers were using the early part of the day to carry out research and compare prices, while later in the day the sales would begin in earnest, showing that people are keen to hunt carefully for bargains, rather than diving in without thorough preparation.