UK shoppers to spend 4% more this Christmas, says Deloitte
Holiday spending by British shoppers will increase by 4% this year, according to a forecast by advisory firm Deloitte, helped by strong growth in digital sales.
Consumers are expected to shell out £42.4bn in December, up £1.5bn on last year.
Half of this growth is predicted to come from on-line sales, which are estimated to account for 13% of total sales, compared with 12% last year.
Click-and-collect sales, where people order their products on-line and pick them up in store, are predicted to nearly double to £2.5bn, equal to 45% of all on-line transactions.
Deloitte said that digital will play a "key role in in-store sales this Christmas".
Head of retail Ian Geddes said: ““There can be little doubt that click-and-collect will drive footfall in-store this Christmas, but it will be up to retailers to get their strategy and execution right to capitalise on the opportunity.
“Increases in sales won’t happen by default; they may require some adjustment of the in-store experience targeting customers that are clicking and collecting."
He said that the "real winners" will be those retailers which have already invested in adapting their supply chain and warehousing to changing consumer behaviour.