According to Experian and Hitwise, this will be the first shopping day in the UK with more than 100 million visits, a 36% increase from last year’s Cyber Monday.
Online shoppers are expected to spend 15 million hours shopping online on December 3 2012, with the number increasing to 375 million for the month of December.
In 2011, the UK made 84.6 million visits to online retail sites on cyber Monday with Amazon and eBay representing 28% of all retail visits on that day.
"The current market trends suggest that in the UK, Monday 3rd December will be the biggest pre-Christmas day for online retail, with an estimated 115 million visits to online retail outlets and a massive 15 million hours spent online shopping on this day alone," said James Murray, Digital Insight Manager at Experian Marketing Services. This will be the peak of pre-Christmas shopping in the UK so marketers need to make sure their campaigns are in place to maximise traffic on Cyber Monday."
Experian says it’s important to know what you’re consumers are interested in and the best channels they prefer to engage on to help drive successful sales this Christmas.
Using social media to promote post-Christmas sales can be a key driver to bringing in online retail traffic.
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"The biggest day for social media sending traffic to retail websites last year was 23 December, Murray told CBR. "This makes social the ideal channel to promote post-Christmas sales for Boxing Day and beyond as consumers are engaged on social sites and want to click through on offers made by retailers."
Investing in mobile technologies is also suggested for retailers to boost their bottom line. As mobile shopping becomes increasingly popular retailers who offer mobile coupons, vouchers and in-store WiFi can keep ahead of the competition.
"With advances in mobile technology continuing to blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds, the smartest high street retailers are already prepared to accept the expected swathe of digitally savvy Christmas shoppers," said Steve Rothwell, CEO of Eagle Eye
"Christmas may only come around once a year, but the opportunity to thrive in the retail industry doesn’t come with an expiry date so long as the right measures are taken, he added. "Mobile is ushering in an exciting new era for the retail industry, one that brings the promise of success to physical retailers who get their estate in order now."
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