Christmas provides boost for online retailers

Brits increased their online spending this Christmas, boosting the total amount spent on the net to £2.8 billion, according to Econsultancy‘s e-commerce stats round-up.

A number of figures have been released since the end of the festive season, most of which suggest a rise in online sales for British retailers.  John Lewis, for example, saw a 42% jump in online sales compared to Christmas 2009.

However, Econsultancy’s round-up found that 45% of online shoppers encountered problems on the web, and as such 32% decided to abandon their purchases.

Despite this, a significant 86% of UK consumers logged on to the internet on Christmas day and Boxing day – an increase of more than 10% on last year’s figures. 22% of consumers also surfed the net via their mobile handsets this Christmas.

The Boxing day sales provided a boost for retailers in the UK, with visits to websites around 12% higher than before Christmas, according to Experian Hitwise.  eBay and Amazon were the most visited sites on Boxing day.

In the US, online retail spend reached a record-breaking $32.6 billion during the November to December holiday season – up 12% on 2009.