20 percent of UK Christmas retail sales will be digital

The Christmas retail season has officially begun, with brands, retailers and designers hoping for profitable gains during the core holiday shopping period. But it is not only in-store shopping that will surge, e-commerce is expected to take an estimated 20.3 percent of all holiday season retail sales according to eMarketer, and reach an estimated 16.9 billion pounds. This is up from 14,65 billion pounds last year, which saw a growth of 17.8 percent.

The increasing shift to smartphone buying in the UK is a major growth factor for e-commerce during the Christmas period. eMarketer predicts that smartphones will account for 36.4 percent of total retail m-commerce sales in the UK in 2016, still trailing tablet commerce. However, by 2020 the balance is expected to have shifted, at which point smartphones will account for 52.0 percent of the m-commerce total.

"Digital habits become accentuated during Christmas shopping period"

“Retail ecommerce sales during the festive season look set to shine this year, despite the wider economic conditions in the UK,” said eMarketer senior analyst Bill Fisher. “This is in no small part due to a digitally advanced consumer, who has been quick to embrace digital buying and particularly smartphone buying. And during the Christmas shopping period, these digital habits become even more accentuated.”

Overall UK retail sales are expected to reach 83.22 billion pound during the holiday shopping season in 2016, representing annual growth of 1.3 percent. This marginal rise is an improvement over 2015, when retail sales during the festive period actually declined by 0.3 percent. eMarketer had originally forecast growth in retail sales for this period in 2015, but an unseasonably warm winter meant that the apparel sector posted sluggish sales results, dragging down the total.

Photo credit:e-Marketer chart, wikimedia, Intel Free Press