A third of Christmas shopping will be done online this week – peaking on Saturday the 15 December – according to research.
According to a study carried out for VoucherCodes by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR), consumers will be buying online, especially on mobile, as they complete their Christmas shopping for the year, peaking in time to get it delivered before the big day.
The study found that 32% of Christmas shopping would be online, up from 29% in 2017. And the growth is off the back of mobile, which will see its share of the spoils up from £11.3 billion in 2017 to £13.6 billion this year.
The figures reflect those in a separate study by Mastercard, which suggests that 57% of total Christmas shopping spending will be online this year, with a 28% of that – so more than a quarter of the total spent on shopping – being mobile.
Last-minute buying on Saturday 15 December is set to see 10.1 million shoppers visit the shops in search of certainty about receiving gifts, contrasting with 4.8 million looking online.
The CRR figures also suggest that households in the UK will spend an average £831 on Christmas this year, including £493 on gifts, £238 on food and drink – and £32 on decorations.
