More than half of Brits still prefer to do their Christmas shopping on the high street or at shopping centres rather than online, according to new research.
Almost 52 per cent of participants stated they do their Christmas shopping in-store compared to the meagre 9.5 per cent who said they predominantly do Christmas shopping online.
The figures derive from a survey of 2000-plus people conducted by mobile network GiffGaff.
With shopping on mobile apps or the desktop continuously on the rise, it was expected that a high number of UK consumers would beat the Christmas queues by shopping online.
However, GiffGaff’s survey revealed that the festive ritual of hitting the high street at Christmas time was far from dead.
It also revealed that 24.5 per cent of respondents spend up to £700 on buying Christmas presents, with 44 per cent saying their most expensive purchases are made exclusively in-store.
GiffGaff believes the high streets are set to be packed again this December, although gloomy November figures from the BDO High Street Sales Tracker and BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor all point to what could be a tough December ahead.
“Although it is a well-known fact that mobile commerce is increasing, our research clearly shows that people still feel more comfortable spending large sums of money in-store, where they can see the item and take it home that day,” GiffGaff head of search Victoria Tagg said.
“This is especially true over the Christmas period.”
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