Yodel's seasonal sale insights
As we enter the first quarter of the New Year, we’re taking a moment to look back and reflect on all last year’s festive season has taught us.
We’re happy to report, firstly, that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well across the UK. Although the IMRG forecast that Christmas Day would see a huge rise in online shopping - predicting a six percent rise in spend to £844 million in online sales across the UK – our survey showed that only eight per cent of people shopped online on Christmas day.
However, online retail revenues received a boost before and after Christmas Day, with 31 per cent of shoppers hitting the sales on Boxing Day. Around 17 per cent of customers shopped online on Christmas Eve – taking advantage of the ongoing trend for retailers starting their sales earlier every year.
In fact, we’ve seen a huge rise overall in the number of people looking to pick up a post-Christmas sale online.
IMRG had forecast that online Boxing Day sales would grow eight per cent in 2017 to exceed £1 billion, and it appears that this was at the expense of the high street, as Springboard reported that in-store footfall was five per cent lower this Boxing Day than the previous year.
The British Retail Consortium also reported that online non-food retail sales for December were up 7.6 per cent year on year in contrast to total retail sales which rose by just 1.4 per cent. This means that almost a quarter of non-food spend across the UK came from online channels.
Interestingly, we also saw a strong gender split in the type of items that people were looking to pick up in the post-Christmas sales. 61 per cent of women who shopped during this period bought clothing and footwear, compared to 42 per cent of men. Men were on the hunt for bargains in electricals, around 42 per cent of men said they logged on to pick up electrical items that were on sale.
Everyone’s on the lookout for a bargain in the sales, and this year was no different; 41 per cent of shoppers over all, and half of 25-34 year olds, said shopping online was the best way to nab a brilliant deal.
People also said the convenience of online shopping was a major draw. Around 30 per cent shopped online to avoid going out – this increased to over 40 per cent of the over 65 age group. Shoppers also said they shopped online because they weren’t able to get what they want in-store locally; they also enjoyed being able to shop in the evening; and the greater choice of sales items online.
Returns are always part and parcel of the Christmas experience, and with a huge range return channels available to shoppers, it’s always interesting to see which prove most popular.
According to our survey, 23 per cent of people chose to return items via a convenient parcel point or convenience store. While for people who selected home collection - 44 per cent highlighted that they’d chosen this option for ease and convenience (and because being cosied up at home with feet up and a nice cup of tea over the festive season is almost always the best option).
Here’s hoping for a fabulous start to the year to you and yours from everyone in the Yodel team!