Scots firms urged to embrace ecommerce
Online retailers are expected to enjoy bumper sales totalling £633 million today as Christmas shoppers turn to the internet on what has been dubbed "Uber Monday".
The number of people scouring the web for festive bargains is forecast to exceed even last week when shoppers parted with an estimated £537m on "mega Monday" - 29 November.
With 16 shopping days left until Christmas, online activity is tipped to reach fever pitch between midday and 1pm today when shoppers are set to part with £23.2m in just one hour. However, despite the growing trend for doing Christmas shopping online, industry experts in Scotland warn that too few businesses north of the Border have yet latched on to the power of internet retailing.
Although British shoppers spend more per person via the web than shoppers in the US and in any other country in Europe, experts say Scotland is missing out on its fair share of the e-retail market.
Not one Scottish company is among the top 50 online shops in the UK, according to Experian.
Polly Purvis, head of technology trade body ScotlandIS, urged more Scots businesses to follow the examples of companies such as Arran Aromatics and Moray Seafoods, which are accessing more customers through the web. "E-commerce stores are the perfect playing field for small Scottish companies," Purvis said.
"They eliminate the boundaries of geography and size, allowing Scottish SMEs to compete across the UK and beyond.
"With increasingly savvy consumers, improved security, better fulfilment and faster broadband access, Scottish firms need to grasp this opportunity with both hands and make full use of this important customer channel."
A number of retailers last week reported booming online sales as shoppers preferred to stay in their homes rather than brave the freezing conditions.
While e-retailers are expected to do particularly well in the first few weeks of the festive shopping period, there are, however, fears that sales may slow down if snowy conditions continue.
Shoppers are already thinking twice about whether their online purchases will be delivered on time as courier companies face a hefty backlog of deliveries due to the adverse conditions, according to one report out today.
Accountancy firm BDO's high street sales tracker said the poor conditions outside have pushed online growth well down on the 39.2 per cent seen a year ago.
According to Moneysupermarket, the most popular items that will be purchased online today include the Nintendo DSi, Buzz Lightyear Jetpacks, Microsoft Kinect for Xbox, the game Call of Duty: Black Op and Toy Story 3 on Blu-ray.
Britons are expected to part with £6.4 billion online this month, according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group.
For full news story please see: The Scotsman