Internet attracts more Christmas shoppers

A new study by online bank Cahoot has found that almost 40 per cent of UK shoppers will be using their credit cards to buy presents online this Christmas than trawl the shops looking for gifts
A survey by the online bank found almost half of customers will be avoiding the High Street this year because the shops are simply too busy during the festive period.
When asked how much shopping they intend to do online this year, two fifths (42 per cent) intend to do at least some, and 14 per cent said half of it. A third (31 per cent) are more likely to buy gifts over the internet than they were last year. The online Christmas gift market is predicted to be worth around £5 billion in the UK this year, accounting for 9 per cent of all retail sales in November and December.
Managing director of Cahoot, John Goddard, says: “Doing battle on the High Street during the traditional Christmas rush is not much fun so more and more people are buying online.
“Five years ago, when Cahoot launched, the internet and the people who used it were very different.
“In a relatively short space of time, online shopping has become part of life for many people regardless of gender, age, socio-economic background or location.”
The main reasons for avoiding High Street shops, according to the bank’s survey, are lack of patience among consumers to do battle with queues and busy shops and the belief that the internet is a cheaper way to do Christmas shopping.
Nevertheless, many are wary of shopping online due to the surge in fraud and identity theft. In 2001 Cahoot released a ‘web card’, which effectively allows secure online shopping.
Mr Goddard said: “We introduced the Cahoot web card because research amongst our own customers showed that whilst there is an appetite to use the web to obtain cheap deals, consumers stated that their online spending would increase if the safety of their personal information was assured.”