Holiday E-Commerce to Grow in U.K. While Traditional Retail Stays Flat

Whereas total retail spending for the holiday season will likely be up only slightly from year-ago levels in the U.K., France and Germany, online spending there is expected to grow strongly, according to a comScore study of the online shopping plans of European consumers, reports MarktingCharts.

Among comScore’s findings:

• On average, 62 percent of respondents in the three countries expect to spend about the same on their holiday shopping as they did last year; 20 percent expect to spend more; and 18 percent expect to spend less. Accordingly, total spend is likely to be up only slightly versus last year.
• However, 36 percent of respondents expect to spend more online on their holiday shopping than they did last year while 50 percent expect to spend the same and just 14 percent expect to spend less.

(See table for a breakdown, by country, of consumers’ online and total holiday shopping plans.)

“The popularity of online shopping is set to reach an all time high this year, as time squeezed consumers - armed with high speed access and experience with the online channel - can be expected to spend more time shopping and buying Christmas gifts online,” said Bob Ivins, comScore EVP of International Markets.

One-third of holiday shoppers have already started

• In the U.K., 48 percent of respondents said they had already started their Christmas shopping, with a further 30 percent planning to start within the first two weeks of November.
• German shoppers were also quick off the mark, with 36 percent having already started their Christmas shopping and a further 38 percent intending to do so within the fortnight.
• However, only 19 percent of French respondents claimed to have already started shopping for Christmas, with a further 38 percent planning to wait until December.
• French consumers were also found to be the most likely to still be shopping on Christmas Eve, with 7 percent saying that they would likely wait until the last minute.

(See table for a breakdown, by country, of when shoppers plan to start their holiday shopping.)

Online payment methods differ

The study also found wide divergence in online payment methods among the three countries (see table):

• Credit cards are by far the most popular form of online payment in France.
• Debit cards/bank transfers are the most popular in the U.K. and Germany.
• Preference for PayPal ranged from a low of 14 percent in France and Germany to a high of 20 percent in the U.K.