Online sales remain strong

Online sales in November continued to be a bright spot in the current retail wasteland. According to the British Retail Consortium’s latest gloomy figures, retail sales in November were down for the second month in a row. This marks the start of a worrying trend: it is the first time that figures have fallen since the UK Retail Sales Monitor survey began in 1995. However, in the midst of this bleak landscape, online retail continued to increase, growing almost 10% year on year in November.
There are a number of valid reasons for this growth, not least a marked increase in consumer confidence online. People are not browsing on the high-street and making impulse purchases - they haven’t got the time or the money. According to recent figures from Google, over 85% of all procurement starts on line, and with increased domestic and PC uptake rates there are more shoppers out there.
So consumers habits have changed and this now-established connectivity has emancipated consumers. They have already researched the options online, found the cheapest deals on price comparison sites, read user-reviews on forums, and gathered recommendations from contacts on social networking sites. In addition retailers have played their part too in improving consumer confidence: security issues have been sharpened up, consumers’ rights have been established and clarified, and website usability improved. And online real-estate prices knock the price tags of expensive locations needed by bricks and mortar establishments into a cocked-hat.
The current economic climate, plus the dramatic online evolution is the perfect storm for retail – but instead of being seen as a destructive threat to the high-street, retailers should embrace this opportunity, diversify and embrace the world-wide online market-place.

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Busiest day for online shopping

Today is set to be the busiest online shopping day during the Christmas period, with more than two million purchases forcasted (Telegraph). Online customers are keen to receive their purchases in time for Christmas, and today’s last minute online sales could well top £320 million says IMRG (the leading industry body for global e-retailing).

According to IMRG, Monday 1^st December was the busiest day of the year for the UK’s online retailers so far – but today will be busier. For more information take a look at the news article at Internet Retailing.

Europe opens for ecommerce business

Ecommerce is a bright spot in the current retail environment, continuing its double digit year-on-year growth rate. With this in mind we thought you might like to read the new “Borderless” report launched today. The report details the key consumer and retail issues, as well as prospects currently facing the European cross border ecommerce sector.

Key findings of the report include details of: highest cross border spending per country, statistical measurement of cross border purchases and ecommerce business growth strategies for SMEs.

Commissioned by thebluedoor and written by Colum Joyce, the Borderless report aims to help businesses wanting to expand into new geographical markets to develop best-practice strategies and tactics to maximise potential success.

The Borderless report is freely available for download here.