Almost £1 million will be spent in just one minute as Christmas shoppers snap up deals on 6th December, widely referred to as ‘Mega Monday’, according to a new report.
Payment fraud prevention firm Retail Decisions (ReD) predicts that more money than ever will be spent online this Christmas, with the busiest minute of the busiest day falling at 12:58 on Monday 6th December.
In that minute, around 128 transactions per second will take place.
ReD’s figures, which are based on real-time sales from leading online retailers in the UK, show that Christmas shoppers are increasingly turning to the internet for price comparisons and discounted deals.
ReD predicts that 2.9 million transactions will take place on the busiest online trading day, with an average transaction value of £130, up some 3 per cent year-on-year.
“ReD’s online retailers had their busiest day last year on 7 December, with sales up 11% versus Monday 30 November 2009. The same trend was replicated in 2008. These trends, combined with our real time sales data, strongly indicate that Monday 6th December with be the year’s busiest day for shopping online”, said Carl Clump, CEO of ReD.
“The busiest online shopping hour is expected to be between 12:00 and 13:00, with people taking advantage of their lunch breaks to search for Christmas gifts online. With transactions peaking at 12:58, we are expecting almost a million pounds to be spent in just one minute as Mega Monday hits fever pitch.”
David Smith, Managing Director at IMRG, said: “Mega Monday this year looks set to be the biggest ever, with over half of the population now shopping online. The economic climate is tough for retailers, but online can offer the value, choice and convenience that consumers turn to in order to make the most of their resources.”
ReD expects a strong Christmas trading period for online retailers, with sales up 27 per cent year-on-year for December to £6.93 billion.
Sales are estimated to peak again on Boxing Day and through the New Year as bargain hunters take the opportunity to purchase bigger ticket items before the VAT price rise to 20 per cent on 4 th January 2011.
Alongside the positive news of strong online Christmas trade, ReD is also warning that online retailers and consumers need to remain vigilant about the threat of fraud.
Carl Clump continued: “Cyber criminals are continually trying to find new ways of taking advantage of online retailers, especially during the busiest time of the year when they attempt to hide under the radar. Unfortunately, the threat from fraudsters is very real and the average attempted fraudulent transaction, that ReD prevents, is tracking at £206, 58 per cent more than the genuine shoppers’ average of £130.”
Source: www.redplc.com