Many high street retailers have attributed their success this Christmas to the growth of online sales, both online and mobile, and calling December 2013 the first ‘mobile Christmas’.
A survey by O2 found that the average Christmas shopper spent more than 425 minutes each week shopping online, visiting more than 20 websites as they hunted for the perfect presents in December 2013.
The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has also infiltrated the online shopping figures as the average shopper used 6 different touch-points during the course of their Christmas shopping.
One third of all shoppers would use click and collect this Christmas – up 12% year on year.
High street department store John Lewis found that online sales over Christmas accounted for 31.8%, up 22.6% year on year with three quarters of visits to its site from smartphones and tablet.
Across the Christmas period, 56% of online visits to John Lewis’ site were from mobile devices, compared to 25% in 2012, echoing the mobile devices trend.
Feilim Mackle, director of sales and service at O2, said: "With the introduction of our 4G service last year and ubiquitous connectivity, we are increasingly becoming a nation of smart shoppers, who, armed with mobiles and tablets have come to expect a seamless online and offline shopping experience.
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"Our own research "The Mobile Future of British Retail", predicted a third of shoppers would use click-and-collect this Christmas. John Lewis’ results, whereby its seen a 60% year on year uplift in the service, has been a key factor in it winning the Christmas shopping war – and with it reaping significant financial gains. Those retailers who don’t put online and mobile at the heart of people’s shopping experience stand to be left behind."
