Christmas shopping to go mobile

 

UK to spend almost as much on Christmas shopping via mobile phone as the rest of Europe combined this year.

The UK will spend more on Christmas shopping via mobile phone than any other country in Europe this year.

According to a report commissioned by the Centre for Retail Research, UK shoppers will splash £1.64billion buying things for the festive season through their handsets this year.

This will make up almost half of the total spending via mobile in Europe this Christmas, with the French, a distant second, set to spend just £470million through their phones.

Chris Simpson, chief marketing officer at Kelkoo, the online shopping comparison site that conducted the report, said: “We were interested to see that this year, shopping on mobile phones is set to increase significantly, opening up more opportunities for retailers to sell any place, any time.”

The report also found that UK households are set to spend just over a quarter of their Christmas budgets online this year, again the most in Europe, alongside Sweden.

Over 12% of our online Christmas shopping will be done via mobile - the fourth highest proportion in Europe.

Simpson added: “Our advice to retailers that are not geared up for mobile shoppers is to make sure they invest as soon as possible, otherwise they will miss out on a very lucrative shopping platform which is expected to account for more than one in ten online purchases this Christmas.”

Despite continuing difficult economic conditions, Kelkoo believes that UK household budgets will rise by 1% this year, with families expected to spend £682 each on average - again the most in Europe.

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