Online spending rising rapidly

22/09/2008

UK consumers will spend almost £60 billion on online purchases this year, a new report has predicted.

A study conducted by eMarketer concluded that more people would head online to do their shopping as the economic situation worsens, resulting in an increase in business-to-consumer trade from £46.6 billion in 2007 to £59.8 billion this year.

Researchers also forecasted that the value of such transactions in the UK e-commerce market would rise to £94.2 billion by 2012, emphasising the importance to retailers of focusing on areas such as website design and effective search engine optimisation.

Online sales of food, electrical goods and clothing were all found to be growing, but it was not only major retailers who benefited from the trend.

Karin von Abrams, eMarketer's senior analyst, explained that niche online businesses were also prospering.

"Small merchants with a clear value proposition, well-designed website and reliable service have every chance of building their customer base and capitalising on the efficiencies of online selling," she added.

Another recent eMarketer report revealed that UK online businesses spend almost three times as much on search advertising as they do on display ads.