E-Commerce -

Payments Council forecasts 12% of 2013 festive spending from e-commerce

The UK’s Payments Council has released findings that suggest that around 12 pence in

A computer mouse and a present

12 pence in every £1 of consumers’ Christmas shopping this year will be spent online.

every £1 of consumers’ Christmas shopping this year will be spent online via e-commerce and m-commerce.

Consumers are expected to spend a total of £82.7 billion on their cards and by cash and cheque this December, marking a 1.2% increase from the same period last year, the Payments Council said.

Around £10 billion, or 12% of the total spend, will be made up of people using their cards to make purchases on the internet, marking a 15% jump on last year and surging by 495% from just under £1.7 billion 10 years ago.

The figures throw light on how consumers’ shopping habits have seen a strong shift towards the internet over the last decade. In December 2003, just 2p in every £1 of consumers’ Christmas spending was carried out online.

A spokeswoman for the Payments Council said the figures are evidence of how people are increasingly turning to the internet to compare prices as well as the convenience of “not having to push through the Christmas shoppers”.

The predictions show that debit cards will continue to account for the bulk of spending this December, with some £34 billion-worth of spending expected to be made using this method, marking a 6.3% uplift on last December.

Shoppers are also expected to put slightly more on their credit cards this December than they did last year, with a 1.4% uplift expected compared with December 2012. Some £14.1 billion is forecast to be put on credit cards this December.

Cash spending is expected to remain relatively flat in December, with just a 0.3% year-on-year rise to £24 billion.

Meanwhile, cheque use is expected to continue to drop off, accounting for around £10.5 billion-worth of payments next month, representing an 11% decrease on December last year. Ten years ago, more than double this amount was placed on cheques over Christmas, at almost £24 billion.

The Payments Council made its forecast by looking at previous spending patterns and also taking into account wider developments in society and in the economy.

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