Shoppers to spend 45 million hours online over next three days

UK shoppers are set to spend 45 million hours shopping online over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, according to Experian.

The global information services firm expects December to be a record breaking month for online retail after examining data from Experian Hitwise, its online competitive intelligence tool.

Christmas Eve is set to see the largest increase with 105 million visits, up 22% compared to the same day last year. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are predicted to see increases of 9% and 5% respectively year-on-year.

Experian expects UK consumers to make 117 million visits to retail websites on Christmas Day and 118 million visits on Boxing Day. In addition, the firm says the UK is on course to make over 3 billion visits to retail websites in December 2013, the first time this will ever have happened in a single month

James Murray, digital insight manager for Experian Marketing Services, said: “Christmas 2013 has consistently outperformed 2012 on virtually every single shopping day this December, with online visits from Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day up from last year, a record breaking Cyber Monday and the emergence of the even busier Middle Cyber Monday.

“Shopping habits are changing, with Christmas Day becoming a significant shopping day during the period. As a result, we anticipate a more sustained shopping pattern during this period, moving away from the traditional peaks and troughs usually evident during holiday season.”

Source : The Retail Bulletin
www.theretailbulletin.com/news/uk_to_spend_45_million_hours_shopping_online_over_christmas_eve_christmas_day_and_boxing_day_23-12-13/