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IMRG estimates that online retail spend on Christmas Day will reach £844 million – which represents a 6.3% uplift on the same day in 2016, when spending hit £794 million.
Online shopping on Boxing Day is forecast to exceed £1 billion for the first time, reaching £1.03 billion: a 7.9% increase on 2016 when total spend was £954 million.
If this forecast is borne out by shopper activity over the period, it would mean that Black Friday continues to outstrip Boxing Day for online retail spend. In 2017, IMRG recorded £1.39 billion spent online for Black Friday (November 24) – an 11.7% increase on Black Friday 2016.
IMRG managing director Justin Opie commented: “Boxing Day sales remain a fixture of retail and an important day in the calendar, but Black Friday has altered sales patterns over the full peak period and is now the primary discounting event of the season. And perhaps, as with Black Friday, we’re seeing Boxing Day spend become more online-focused.”
He added: “Although going out to the shops on Boxing Day has long been a British tradition, footfall was reportedly down 7.3% on Boxing Day last year.
“It’s likely that spend on Christmas Day is pulling some of that order volume forward as well, as shoppers have the ability to browse and buy from the sofa on mobile devices during quiet moments at home and visiting family, redeeming the huge numbers of gift cards and coupons that they receive in place of presents each year.”
IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) bills itself as ‘the voice of online retail in the UK’. It is a membership community comprising retail businesses of all sizes – multichannel and pureplay, SME and multinational – and solution providers to the industry. Members are supported through a range of activities including market tracking and insight, benchmarking and best practice sharing.
