For the first time in the UK, internet retail sales reached £3 billion in the month of November, according to research.
IMRG estimates that £3,260,000,000 was spent online during the November, at an average rate of £4.57 million per hour, approximately 45% more than in the same period last year.
November's internet Christmas sales were more than half a billion pounds higher than those of the previous month. This increase was ten times the average monthly increase of £50 million recorded during the first ten months of 2006.
The average growth rate was just £16 million per month, during the same 10 month period two years ago, in 2004.
James Roper, IMRG's CEO said, "Internet shopping is hugely attractive for consumers, especially at Christmas, as these figures show. The November values are in line with our earlier forecasts and confirm that we are likely to see a total of £7 billion being spent online by UK shoppers in the 10-week run-up to Christmas. Though no longer a surprise, growth of this magnitude is nevertheless breathtaking. In 2000, the first year in which the IMRG collected hard online sales data, Christmas trading was worth well under half a billion pounds, and we thought that was huge at the time. Now we can see that the e-retail market is just getting into its stride, with large potential for long-term growth."
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