This Christmas is set to be another big success for online retailers, with IMRG estimating that £6.4bn will be spent throughout December. In this article, six of the UK’s biggest online retailers make their predictions for the best-selling gifts during the festive season.
There are some great new products around this year, with manufacturers continuing to develop innovative products through fast-developing advancements in technology. The competition for product sales is heating up; below some of our retailer members reveal what they think will be the biggest sellers this year.
Alison Wade, Head of Marketing at the online gift experience company Buyagift.com, said: “Sales in our core product areas remain strong. Driving days are proving as popular as ever, and with the exclusive deals that we have on the site, we expect sales for these to stay strong throughout the Christmas period. The spa days and adrenaline experiences that we sell are also extremely popular with our customers, and the huge range of products at the large number of locations around the UK, make these truly memorable gifts for the lucky recipients.” Another area in which Buyagift have seen huge growth this year is in their short break gift vouchers. “We have seen a growth of around 120% year on year for October and November so far, which although fuelled by some strong special offers, still shows that our customers are becoming more aware of the appeal and value of the short break gift voucher.”
Ben Fowler, Head of Buying and Merchandising at Firebox.com, said: “Retro toys are popular once again – a mixture of big-kids and new online audiences enjoying things the second time around, mean that products such as Bigtrak is back in a big way this year and many Firebox customers are very excited about the 80’s toy. As people are still looking to spend wisely this year, a number of Firebox customers will be buying practical items and making more considered purchases. Examples include useful products that still make great gifts such as the Touchscreen Gloves and the Slanket. Finally, we expect the iconic, established brands to be a popular part of everyone’s Christmas wish-lists, so products such as Polaroid cameras and Lego licensed products will continue to sell well.”
Ulric Jerome, MD at PIXmania, said: “Tablets are on course to be among the big hitters over the next few weeks, especially since we’ve seen a number of new models arrive, which are starting to have a slice of Apple’s pie. E-Readers are also going down a storm, proving particularly popular as presents for parents and grandparents. Topping the wish list has to be the Microsoft Kinect which is like hot cakes at the moment as it appeals to both kids and families, we expect this to be the number 1 gift this Christmas.”
David Walmsley, Director of UK eCommerce at Dixons Retail added: “On our peak trading day this year, which is set for Monday 6th December, we expect to be taking at least one order every six seconds on our Currys and PC World websites; and in our peak hour, throughout lunchtime on that day, we expect this to rise to one order every two seconds. Just on that one day alone we expect more than 10 people a second to log on to one of our online stores.”
Bjorn Kvarby, European Managing Director of Shopping.com, said: “2010 is proving to be an incredible year for online shopping, as consumers begin to realise just how easy, time-efficient, and cost effective it is to find what they are looking for online. We’re already predicting overall growth for Shopping.com at 23% for December 2010, year-on-year, and believe it’s going to be a bumper Christmas for the online retail market. Many consumers save all year for Christmas and are ready to splash out for the festive season. We have seen this begin, with searches for technology and gadgets increasing dramatically as consumers clamour for the latest devices for Christmas. Over the past few weeks, 3DTVs, MP3 and MP4 digital media players have hit the top of their categories, highlighting what a lot of us already know – it’s going to be a very techy Christmas…again!”
Stuart Rowe, Chief Operating Officer of Play.com, said: “This Christmas we have more deals at Play.com than ever before to ensure our customers get what they are looking for at the best price. At Play.com we predict our biggest sellers this Christmas will be the evergreen Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger, the recently released Toy Story 3 and Take That’s Progress. We also expect the new Kinect and the latest version of the Apple iPod Touch to do extremely well. The final date to order your Christmas presents from Play.com, to arrive before Christmas Day is 19th December, all with free delivery.”
Source: http://www.imrg.org/
