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Online shopping reaches record high

Julian Goldsmith silicon.com

Published: 25 Feb 2008 09:00 GMT

Online shopping jumped in January, with sales reaching a record high of £4.5bn in the UK over the month.

Web sales increased 75 percent year-on-year, amounting to the equivalent of £75 for every person in the UK, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

Electricals are the favourite purchase, followed by clothing, with 38 percent and 32 percent share of revenues respectively.

Anthoula Madden, head of Capgemini's UK consumer products and retail team, said online growth is happening despite sluggish sales on the high street with retailing revenues increasing by only three percent.

Madden said: "The results show the maturity of the online market, with consumers being more confident about buying goods online. On Christmas day, more people were online than went to church. At the same time, the economic situation has been tough and people may have held their spending back until the January sales started this year. The growth in revenues was probably driven by seasonal discounting."

Credit: Online shopping up by 75 per cent from silicon.com