14 DAY TRIAL // The upcoming Christmas shopping season is about to bring impressive revenues in the United Kingdom as the total online spending for 2007 is expected to reach ?40 billion, Web User News reported today. The UK residents are expected to spend no less than ?14 billion in the holiday season around Christmas, statistics issued by uSwitch.com and quoted by the same source mentioned above state. Moreover, it seems like every resident Brit might spend approximately ?509 for online goodies.
"Online security has vastly improved so our peace of mind is greater than ever before. The internet makes it easy to shop around at maybe 40 or 50 different stores in one go to make sure that we are getting the best deals," Steve Weller from uSwitch.com, the company which released the analysis, said according to Web User News.
Even if the online shopping market grew up a lot, this doesn't necessarily mean that this industry is well-developed and based on powerful technologies. Some recent figures underlined the security issues discovered in the online shopping products which could redirect the consumers to other similar products.
"It's a great time to buy online, especially with the new ruling on protection for credit card purchases abroad. But it's also important to know exactly what your rights are before surfing the net for bargains. Online shopping isn't always a case of 'what you see is what you get'. It can be difficult when all you have to go on is a photo. As well as your statutory rights, it's worth checking returns policies, as these do vary," Peter McCarthy from Which?, a UK company involved in the online shopping competition said for the same source.
Certainly, the online shopping season will be dominated by the Internet giants which already managed to attract the majority of consumers with special offers and bonuses. However, the battle was not started yet so we might see some unexpected moves from the competitors.