Amazon.com and John Lewis are among the major winners of the seasonal online sales rush, with Internet shopping reaching a new high during the 2012 holiday period.
Figures from Experian reveal that UK web users made 84 million visits to retail sites on Christmas Eve and 107 million visits on Christmas Day – up 86% and 71% respectively compared to December 2011.
But Boxing Day set a new British record for online shopping, with 113 million visits going to retail websites in a single day. Experian attributes this to consumers becoming savvier in their shopping strategies, using the Internet to research the best deals.
Amazon.com reported that third-party sellers worldwide on Amazon experienced record holiday growth, with sales in the US alone increasing more than 40% year-on-year.
Eli Silver, president of electronics retailer Amazing Deals Online, said: “I’ve been selling on the Amazon platform for about 12 years now, and this has been by far one of the best ever holiday seasons. My business experienced more than a 70% increase in orders placed over last year.”
Amazon also announced last week that 2012 was its biggest holiday ever with over 26.5 million items ordered worldwide on its peak day.
Meanwhile, John Lewis reported that online sales for the five weeks to 29 December 2012 were 44.3% up on last year. Johnlewis.com now accounts for a quarter of the total John Lewis business.
John Lewis managing director Andy Street said: “The success of our online operation and our pre-eminence as an omni-channel retailer cannot be underestimated.
“Sales at johnlewis.com broke through the £800m milestone during December supported by an excellent performance from our Click and Collect facility which allows customers the flexibility to buy online and collect from John Lewis and Waitrose outlets.”
However, the boom in online sales was accompanied by a slump on the high street, with figures from retail research firm Springboard showing that December numbers until Christmas Eve were down 1.3% on last year.
“Overall, Christmas hasn’t been a boom time for UK retailers but it hasn’t been complete doom and gloom either,” said British Retail Consortium director general Helen Dickinson.
Earlier this week, a Royal Mail study revealed growing confidence in the SME online shopping market, with two-thirds of those surveyed expecting to see sales rise during 2013.
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