The hype of e-commerce may have fizzled, but researchers said today there are signs that this will be the strongest Christmas yet for online shopping in Europe.
Forrester Research, in its annual European online sales forecast for the Christmas sales period, said Europeans are expected to purchase €7.6 billion worth of products through the Internet in the fourth quarter, breaking a record for the retail sector.
The forecast, which represents an 86 per cent increase over the previous Christmas period, is an important piece of good news for online retailers that are hoping price-conscious consumers head onto the Net to find bargains, particularly as job losses mount and concerns about the global economy grow.
"Last Christmas, Europeans spent more than four billion euros online, but as more consumers spend more online, European online Christmas purchases will rise to €7.6 billion," said Forrester Research Director Mr Jaap Favier.
The percentage of European adults expected to get into the e-commerce spirit this year will rise from 14 percent to 19 per cent, demonstrating that online shopping is becoming a mainstream phenomenon across the continent.
The Forrester study reflects a previous forecast by research firm GartnerG2, which predicted last month that the European e-commerce sector would grow 75 per cent in the fourth quarter from the year earlier period.