Demand for online Christmas shopping surges in the UK, with huge market potential

Thrasio, a company specializing in the acquisition of Amazon's third-party private label business, has reportedly conducted extensive research on consumer behavior and consumption patterns, which shows that the proportion of British consumers choosing to do Christmas shopping online has increased significantly.

The company 's survey of 2,000 British consumers is reported to have shown that 48% of Christmas goods will be bought online this year, with the largest increases in the oldest and youngest age groups.

42% of consumers aged 18-24 will choose to shop online (up from 34% in 2019), and 41% of consumers aged 65 and over will choose to shop online (up from 33% in 2019). Consumers aged 35-44 lead the way at 51% (up from 46% in 2019).

When consumers are broken down further, the data shows that 49% will buy more than half of their Christmas products online, up from 40% during the last COVID-19-free Christmas period in 2019. At the same time, 16% of the 2,000 respondents intend to buy at least three-quarters of their Christmas products online.

The research suggests Christmas 2021 is likely to be a high-spending holiday, with nearly a quarter of respondents saying they will spend more than double what they normally do on gifts and celebrations. In contrast, only 16% said they would spend less.

43% of 18-24 year olds and 32% of 25-34 year olds said they planned to spend more compared to 2020. The highest spenders were Northern Irish at £765 per person, followed by Wales at £671 and Londoners at £598, with East Anglians planning to spend the least at £480.

All signs point to online sales over the festive period being the biggest ever. Supply chain issues combined with the acceleration of e-commerce and a rebound from last year’s Christmas slump mean consumers plan to spend more, spend earlier and choose to spend online.

The research also shows that online purchases will increase by 10% in two years , with half of the population buying nearly half of all goods online - a profound shift in consumer behaviour, with the biggest shift occurring among younger generations. Importantly, this growth is not unique to the UK, but across all demographics and regions.

Product Market

Christmas

U.K.