Consumers will spend £472.5 million online on Boxing Day, which is expected to be the busiest online shopping day of the year, according to Experian predictions.
Experian, using data collected from a quarter of the UK population, has predicted that UK consumers will make 126 million visits to online retail sites on Boxing Day, spending £472.5 million.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will also see surges in online spending, with a total predicted spend of £225 million for Christmas Eve and £307 million for Christmas Day.
Commenting on these predictions, Capgemini‘s Head of Retail Consulting and Technology, Chris Webster said: “Online tills will be ringing all the way from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, including a massive £300 million spend on Christmas morning itself.
“Christmas Day will see a surge in online sales as new tablets and smartphones are put through their paces and vouchers are cashed in for virtual goods such as movies and music.
“This year we‘re as likely to be downloading Queen‘s Greatest Hits as watching the Queen‘s speech.”
A spokesperson for Furniture Village confirmed that the furniture retailer saw web traffic to its online store peak at 25,000 at 4pm on Christmas Day 2011, and that traffic then doubled to 50,000 on Boxing Day.
In total there were 96.2 million visits to online retail sites on Boxing Day last year, up 19.5 per cent year-on-year, but 2012 is expected to break this record.
James Murray, Digital Insight Manager at Experian Marketing Services, commented: “Christmas 2012 is on track to be another record-breaker for online retail, outstripping 2011 on all fronts.
“The current market trends suggest that in the UK, Wednesday December 26th will be the biggest day for online retail, with an estimated 126 million visits to online retail outlets and a massive 17 million hours spent online shopping on this day alone.
“This will be the peak of online shopping in the UK so marketers need to make sure their campaigns are in place to maximise traffic on Boxing Day as consumers make the most of early sales offers: it‘s not too late to promote special offers through email and social media.
“Understanding what people are interested in, the best channels to engage customers through and when to reach them will be crucial to success this season.”
