How were your sales over the weekend and yesterday on “Cyber Monday”? Most people in the UK have just received their last pay cheque before Christmas and if they’re going to spend now is the time they’ll start buying both online and offline.
Once again we have some great data based on the MetaPack eTracker made up of over 300 retailers, including 70 of the UK’s largest 100 retailers.
As expected the peak this year is coming later and stronger than ever before. In line with our forecast, the last week of November showed a 33% increase week on week. The same period last year was only 28.3% and 18.8% in 2010. The build from September is still slightly behind the previous years but overall peak growth is expected to surpass previous peaks in the coming two weeks.
Yesterday’s “Cyber Monday” saw a record high of 51% increase on the first Monday in December last year with Sports & Leisure contributing the most to this jump with an 81% increase.
While traditionally, the first Monday of December is the busiest day of the year in terms of volumes, we’ve found in recent years that the second and third Mondays in December are equally, if not more busy, for major online retailers, including most of the UK’s top High St Brands. We expect Monday 10th December to be at least 10% higher than yesterday’s Cyber Monday, and volumes will stay at this increased level until the 18th or 19th of December.
Every Christmas period, online delivery is in the spotlight. Patrick Wall, MetaPack CEO and Founder explains, “The retailers and carriers have spent a long time preparing for this peak and we have all worked well together to meet the rising demands. This online Christmas will be delivered even though it is gradually moving closer and closer to Christmas week itself.
Technology is certainly playing its part in this with allocation engines automatically assigning parcels to the most effective carrier and providing the best customer service possible. Some of our retailers have reported as much as a 300% increase in sales during this period and clearly everything has to be automated and working right first time, so we can all keep the customer happy”.
