With Christmas fast approaching, shopping is on almost every Brit’s to do list. London’s West End has already bagged a staggering £150m in one weekend and internet sales jumped a significant 30% on Cyber Monday, but the question is whether online sales will beat the High Street for the most December sales this year.
More than £1 billion is expected to be spent in the West End over the six-week period in the lead up to Christmas, yet recent figures from the British Retail Consortium showed that sales in November were up by a mere 0.4%, indicating a ‘wait and see’ approach amongst shoppers. But let’s face it, after numerous Christmas parties, most of us are simply strapped for cash and with the average cost of £319.61 for all of our Christmas shopping, it’s hardly surprising that we want to shop around before we buy. Traditionally, online prizes have always been that little bit more appealing, because of constant price drops and cheaper offers, so it seems a good idea to go shopping around on the high street and then simply note down all the winners to buy online later.
One thing that many shoppers disregard however is that online prices fluctuate on a daily basis, so you can never be sure whether you are in fact getting a better price. According to recent figures, prices can change by as much as 10% in a matter of hours, so those going online at the wrong time could easily end up paying more for their items. Now of course Brits can shop around online for hours to find the best prices for their gifts, but they could end up wasting much more time and money than they would’ve done by simply getting it on the High Street. This is where traditional retailers may be missing a trick – for starters they could advertise prices that are cheaper than those online and they could also use deals accessible via consumers’ smartphones for discounts exclusively in store to keep up with online competition.
The biggest problem is education – there are so many options for traditional retailers to lure shoppers back in-store, because most of us still enjoy touching an item before we buy it, as images online can often be misconceiving. Whether the High Street will be beating online retailers this Christmas still remains to be seen, but until there’s a way to keep track on when prices online change, we still love a good wander around on the high street to find all those hidden gems you wouldn’t normally come across online and if we end up paying less by doing so, then there’s hardly a reason to complain!
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