120 million visits were made to online retail sites by UK shoppers.
Have they ALL gone online? Image: Hugh Venables |
Recorded as potentially the biggest online shopping day of the year, 9th December 2013 eclipsed the previous digital record set almost exactly one year earlier, according to a report by credit agency, Experian. The volume was 10.5% up on the figures recorded on 10th December 2012.
Some 16 million hours were spent on retail sites, with Britain's consumers averaging eight minutes per site visit in the build-up to Christmas. In general, consumers no longer focused on the beginning of the month. According to Experian, shopping activity was spread across most of December and Thursdays and Fridays experienced digital traffic growth for the first time.
Internet purchases were also up by nearly 20% - the fastest growth in four years. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) director general Helen Dickinson said, "This Christmas we've seen innovative retailers using click-and-collect and other approaches to make a virtue of both their website and their physical shops. And that's something we see growing in importance."