Monday 2 December will be the biggest pre-Christmas shopping day online, according to a new report from Experian.
The results reveal that an anticipated 113 million visits to retail websites from UK internet users will be made on Monday, up 1% year on year.
Overall, it is thought that 400 million hours will be spent shopping online in the UK this December, with the average consumer spending eight hours browsing, researching and buying – a 7.5% increase on the same period last year.
As an estimated 3 billion visits go to online retail websites this month, the festive nation will make approximately 150 million retail transactions online, spending around £10.5 billion.
Experian expects Boxing Day to be the single biggest online shopping day of 2013, totalling 115 million retail web visits.
James Murray, digital insights manager at Experian, has said that while this Christmas is going to be the biggest ever in terms of online retail visits, what marketers and brands won’t be seeing are the “well-defined peaks and troughs” of shopping activity over Christmas.
“With the growth of mobile and the ease of quick one-click shopping, we expect to see the homogenisation of shopping days as consumers are less confined in their shopping habits,” he said.
Murray addedd that marketers need to ensure their campaigns address the cross-channel behaviours of today’s consumers and offer a “seamless experience” whether their customers are shopping on the high street or on the go.
“For consumers this means an ever more convenient shopping experience, personalised to their needs.”
