Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cyber Monday 2014 explained: retail frenzy continues



With just four weeks until Christmas, Cyber Monday is traditionally the day when consumers rush online to do their festive shopping, said Simon Black, Sage Pay CEO.

According to the data, noon will be the busiest time for online retailers on Cyber Monday, as it has been for the past two years.

Since 2009, the total amount spent on Cyber Monday has increased by over 250m. The volume of transactions has increased by an average of 11.25pc over the last four years.

However, the rate of Cyber Monday sales growth is accelerating, up by 15pc year-on-year in 2013.

Between 2009-2013 there has been an increase of almost 200,000 transactions, Sage Pay said.

Amazon recently reported that Black Friday was the busiest day ever on its UK website, with more than 5.5 million items ordered at a rate of 64 items a second.

However, the online giant said that it expects Cyber Monday sales to smash this record, and will be offering new deals every 10 minutes throughout the day.

Last year, Amazon's Cyber Monday sales outstripped Black Friday by almost 3pc.

Police were called to supermarkets across the UK on Black Friday as shoppers fought for discounted products

There are fears that UK retailers will be unable to cope with the increased online activity on Cyber Monday.

On Friday, John Lewis said that between midnight and 6am traffic to its site was up 307pc compared to last year, while Currys PC World said it attracted five times more visitors than in 2013.

Tesco, John Lewis, and Argos all suffered website crashes this week, while customers were told they had to wait for up to one hour to access Currys, which is owned by Dixons Carphone.

Gadget retailer Appliances Direct has predicted that 32pc more shoppers will be turning to the internet on Cyber Monday compared with last year.

Darren Williams, founder of online discounting site PromotionalCodes.org.uk, said "Stores have been telling us that theyll be discounting heavily. We're expecting a 200pc increase in the number of searches on our site over the Cyber Monday period.

"British shoppers have become incredibly smart with their money over recent years and are prepared to hang on to get the best deals."

According to the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), many UK small businesses are not prepared for the Cyber Monday spending spree.

Its figures show that as many as 2m sole traders and small companies are missing out on an estimated 164bn in sales because they have no online presence.

Business and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said, Thousands of potential customers are searching online for local small businesses and without an online profile businesses will lose out.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11262761/Cyber-Monday-2014-explained-retail-frenzy-continues.html



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