UK’s Cyber Monday expected to break all records

By Trevor Mogg December 3, 2012

November 26’s Cyber Monday may be but a distant memory for shoppers in the US, but in the UK this Monday online retailers are expecting their best ever day of trading as shoppers use their final pre-Christmas paycheck to go on a spending spree from the comfort of their couch.

Despite the UK being hit hard by the global economic crisis, Brits are expected to shop with gusto Monday night, spending over £200k ($320k) a minute during the peak buying period, likely between 8pm and 9pm. According to information services group Experian, some £320 million ($513m) is expected to be spent by online shoppers on Monday with 115 million website hits forecast, marking a 21 percent increase on last year.

Having hired over 10,000 seasonal workers this shopping season, Amazon for one is certainly hoping for a bumper Christmas.

“Monday 3 December could be the busiest day in the history of Amazon.co.uk,” Christopher North, the managing director of Amazon UK, told the Independent. “As people increasingly shop on mobile devices and benefit from fast broadband at home, we’re seeing a move towards customers buying their Christmas gifts later in the evening when they are at home relaxing.”

Many big UK-based retailers have remarked how online sales have been on the increase in the last year. Department store John Lewis, for example, said its e-commerce arm has seen a significant rise in activity in the last 12 months and now accounts for about 25 percent of the company’s trade.

Goods at the top of most people’s shopping list are expected to include the latest tablets, among them the iPad Mini, Kindle fire HD and Nexus 7. Another item expected to prove popular this year is a rebooted version of the Furby, a massive hit around 10 ago and described as everything from a magical furry robot to an extremely annoying piece of [insert expletive of your choice here].

[via Independent] [Image: DeiMosz / Shutterstock]

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