European online retail sales will total E7.6 billion over the festive period, an increase of 86% on last year’s figure, according to Forrester Research.
The percentage of European adults who buy online has increased from 14% in 2001 to 19% this year while average annual spend is up from E374 to E527.
“Last Christmas, Europeans spent more than four billion euros online, but as more consumers spend more online, European online Christmas purchases will rise to 7.6 billion euros,” said Forrester Research Director Jaap Favier.
Jupiter Research has already predicted a 55% rise in online sales in the run-up to Christmas (see European Online Sales To Rise 55% This Christmas, Says Jupiter) and GartnerG2 has calculated that European e-commerce revenues will total almost $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter (see Online Shopping Thriving Despite Economic Uncertainty).
Germany, with 18 million, has the largest number of internet shoppers but will spend less (E2.2 billion) than the 15 million UK consumers (E2.6 billion). Forrester suggests that German shoppers are less likely to own credit cards and are not as confident about security than their British counterparts. Many Germans also prefer to to use websites for research purposes before buying in-store.
