Consumer spending in the UK is forecast to reach £88 billion this Christmas, with online sales accounting for 13% of overall spend. Indeed, one in five of us are planning to buy all our gifts online. Good news for retailers who can take advantage of the surge in Christmas spending, however staying competitive on price will be more critical than ever to appeal to this year’s value-driven shopper.
Research firm Verdict has predicted that consumer spending will hit £88 billion, the highest since the recession began and almost £2 billion more than last Christmas. For the first time in nine years, every sector of the retail market – including food, homewares, electricals and furniture – will see a rise in sales.
Maureen Hinton, research director at Verdict, commented: “Though consumers will still be looking for value and discounting will continue to be rife in non-food sectors, there will be an increase in volumes this year which will boost their total sales by £600m.”
Online sales are expected to account for £11.6 billion or 13.2% of the total amount spent by shoppers in the last three months of the year, an increase of 12% from last year.
Patrick O’Brien, principal analyst at Verdict, said: “Shoppers have greater confidence in online retailing now and are prepared to leave holiday purchases right up until just before Christmas.This is supported by the rise of click and collect services, which will be much more in evidence this year. Retailers have rushed to develop and market their click and collect services, leaving shoppers the convenience of collecting purchases in store.”
“Cyber Monday” on 2 December and “Mad Monday” on 23 December are predicted to be dominated by lastminute online deliveries and will be key for retailers aiming to cash in on the Christmas market.
To ensure you stay competitive this Christmas, read Profitero’s White Paper to discover the five key reasons why you need to be monitoring your online competitors’ prices.
eMarketer projected in April that US ecommerce retail sales of food and beverage products, of which groceries are a part, would grow from $5.8 billion this year to $11 billion in 2017.
Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Grocery-Retailers-Embrace-Multichannel-Tech-Tools/1010164#jczG8JsqOGqCstO9.99
About Profitero
Profitero is the leading global provider of online competitor pricing data. We provide both bricks & mortar and online retailers with their competitors’ prices, promotions and full product assortment information. Profitero’s accurate and timely competitor intelligence enables our customers to make better informed and more profitable pricing decisions, helping them to increase sales as well as margins.
More than 40 global retailers, including Staples, Sam’s Club, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado, rely on Profitero Price Intelligence to:
- Benchmark competitor prices
- Manage their prices and promotions
- Attract price sensitive shoppers
- Negotiate better with suppliers.
Profitero collaborates with leading price optimization providers including Revionics, IBM DemandTec and Blue Yonder, with Profitero’s competitor pricing data integrated directly into these solutions to provide more accurate and effective price optimization. Profitero is also in a strategic alliance with Nielsen as the preferred supplier of online competitor pricing data to their retail clients.
To discover how Profitero can help make your pricing smarter, contact us at sales@profitero.com or visit www.profitero.com.
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