Figures from the British Retail Consortium have highlighted a boom in online spending for Christmas 2012.But without the 17% rise in website sales for goods other than food, spending would have fallen. Mark Haviland, MD of CPA network Rakuten LinkShare looks at the growing importance of ecommerce for the UK economy.
This week’s figures from the BRC show that the online channel is becoming absolutely vital for retailers. This is the channel that is providing growth for British retailers in the omni-channel environment.
As apparel and footwear have been identified by the BRC as growth areas, we delved into our own CPA network data from December to explore where this growth was coming from, and found that sales of clothing, shoes and accessories peak on Cyber Monday in December. This is compared to luxury and high end brands, which make more sales in the final few days before Christmas.
As shopping on the internet becomes increasingly popular, retailers need to invest in technology which enables them to target potential online customers with the right content, on the right device, at the right time.
The BRC is right to identify the investment in web, mobile and tablet technology as a key driver of online sales, as today’s shopper has come to expect a sophisticated, connected shopping experience, whatever device they are using to browse and shop.”
Mark Haviland
MD of CPA network
Rakuten LinkShare
www.linkshare.co.uk