Christmas is upon us: we look at how popular online shopping has been this festive season

Christmas is a time of year that sees a big rise in shopping. We’re all a bit more willing to loosen the purse strings and splash out on some of the best buys for our loved ones and for ourselves. This year has been no exception. But what we find particularly interesting is how the online and mobile spheres become more and more important for Christmas shoppers every year.

shopping for Christmas dinner online

Many retailers saw the trend for online preference coming this year and deliberately stepped up their push into online sales ahead of the busy shopping season. For example, Morrisons began accelerating its home delivery service back in October, reaching out to all of us who wouldn’t have enough time to push and shove our way through supermarkets in hunt of the turkey and sprouts for Christmas dinner. This move was a result of a partnership struck in May between Ocado and Morrisons, who previously had no online delivery service.

his master’s Christmassy voice

Similarly, HMV made a dramatic return to the UK scene in October, with a big re-launch of its online store. HMV had not traded online since its collapse in January, but this come-back in late 2013 was set to put them head-to-head with internet giants such as Amazon.

preferring to shop online this Christmas

So, because so many of us turn to online shopping to buy things, the value of products sold on the internet has been predicted to smash previous expectations during the festive season. Research carried out by eDigitalResearch and IMRG found that 25% of consumers say online shopping beats in-store at Christmas. Better product ranges and special deals were found to attract online shoppers, who want to avoid crowded stores, checkout queues and sparse staffing.

mobile and tablet shopping

One of the reasons that our Christmas’ has been more online than ever before is the increasingly popular smartphones and tablets, which allow easy internet access for quick online shopping for all our Christmas goodies! IMRG and eDigitalResearch found that 64% of smartphone owners planned on doing their Christmas shopping from their mobiles. And to tap into this trend of shopping from mobile devices like phones and tablets, many retailers have been setting up mobile-friendly sites so that we can navigate and shop more easily.

Have you been using internet and mobile more for your Christmas shopping this year? Shopper Discounts and Rewards wishes you a very merry Christmas!

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