IMRG say 2008 UK online Christmas sales expected to grow 15%

The IMRG, toghether with Capgemini, have just announced their e-Retail Sales Index for the UK, and predict that UK shopping will top £13bn in the last quarter of 2008 - a 15% year on year rise since 07.

It's a 15% growth from last year, but growth has obviously slowed from the 54% growth that was experienced in the same Q4 period last year, and shows that online is not immune from the global economic slowdown.

However, it still works out the equivalent of £215 for every person in the UK.

Clothing / apparel is still expected to perform better than most, with predicted year on year growth of 25%, which will be pleasing for brands like Burton, Topman and Topshop.

Monday 8th December is predicted to be the biggest day for ecommerce, with the analysts suggesting Brits will spend £320m on this day alone. 40% of sales are predicted to take place out of office hours, but lunchtime shopping between 1pm - 2pm will be the crucial time slot with £28m expected to be spent in this hour alone. This is double the amount spent online during the peak hour of 2006, at midday on Monday 11th December.

The good news for retailers is that a Deloitte survey of 1,000 shoppers found consumers who are shopping online will be spending more this year.

Deloitte head of retail Tarlok Teji commented: "This year, the number of people expecting to go online to shop hasn't gone up significantly, suggesting last year was when the channel matured. However, those that do will have a higher average spend than those shopping on the high street. People are obviously comfortable with shopping online now."

IMRG chief executive commented ""The internet is well established as one of consumers' most powerful economic weapons against tough times. Retailers and suppliers will be under extreme pressure to price competitively this year."

The IMRG Capgemini predictions are drawn from data from 60 UK online retail sites.