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Online sales boosted over Christmas period

Online retail sales boomed on the weekend before Christmas and propped up sales figures in the UK for the rest of the month.

Business advisors BDO’s latest High Street Tracker showed like-for-like sales were up by 1.9% amongst businesses with an annual revenue of between £5m and £500m.

Surges in Christmas sales started on the day retailers such as John Lewis and House of Fraser dubbed “Cyber Monday”, which saw a spike in consumer spending on the first Monday of December.

With many retailers reliant on strong Christmas trading, 30.9% rises in online purchases were welcomed, while a 22% increase in footfall over the weekend before Christmas was a relief to some struggling stores.

A record number of 107m visits were made to retail websites on Christmas day itself, with early bird shoppers on the hunt for bargains, up 86% from last year.

Despite sales surges over the festive season, January is anticipated to be difficult for the retail industry, as many consumers tighten their belts after a big Christmas spend.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .