The latest e-Retail Sales Index reveals that UK shoppers spent £5.3 billion on-line in November.

According to the IMRG Capgemini e-research this figure represents a 25% increase in e-commerce sales compared to the previous month and an 11% rise compared to November 2008.

E-retailers said they were witnessing a typical seasonal growth in sales in November as shoppers cranked up their Christmas shopping efforts from the first week of the month.

But despite sales increasing ahead of the festive season, year-on-year growth has been the lowest for the month of November in the 10-year history of the Index. It’s thought that this is because shoppers were holding out for bargains, rather than reducing their total e-retail spend.

December 7, 2009, marked a record-breaking day for on-line shopping as e-consumers spent £1.4 million at 13:43 in just one minute.

This was the busiest minute for on-line retail sales and represented a 61% like-for-like rise on the same time last year.

The on-line sales results was recorded by Retail Decisions (ReD), a leading company in card fraud prevention, payment processing and card issuing.

It also revealed that between 13:00 and 14:00 on-line sales topped out at £33 million, which is an increase of 21% on 2008.

These results show that increasing numbers of consumers are buying on-line and taking up a wealth of discounted offers in the run-up to Christmas.

Other research has showed that in 2009 three quarters of internet shoppers will buy half or more of their total Christmas shopping on-line.

Expert predictions are that if spending continues as shown, total on-line sales will exceed £5 billion for the month of December.

It’s no surprise to find shopping giant Amazon.co.uk at number 1 in the latest top 50 on-line shops list, with Argos taking the number 2 slot and Play at number 3. Tesco also retained its place at number 7, while M&S climbed a place to number 5.

But this quarter the IMTG-Hitwise Top 50 e-tailers list reveals two on-line stores that are less popular. Amazon.com has again fallen a place to number 6. It was worse news for Next, which fell four places to number 8.

This month there were three new entrants in the top 10 list, announced on December 1, including Apple Computer ay number 4, John Lewis at 9 and Tesco Direct at 10.

The biggest movers this quarter were: GAME, up 20 places to 22, Boots up 19 places to 28 and Sainsbury’s up 17 places to 29.

A survey has backed up the theory that if e-tailers are hoping to boost business then “discounted”, “free”, “free delivery” and “vouchers” are great keyword attractors.

The report by Hitwise looked at how searches for these promotion-type terms increased dramatically at period such as Christmas.

Interestingly it was also revealed that these kind of searches tended to be among more affluent on-line shoppers.

So, here’s a tip for on-line business: If you’re hoping to increase revenue, and especially during the festivities, why not try throwing in a few attractive freebies. Make sure your “free” and “promotion” keywords are easily searchable – and then keep track to find out if on-line interest/sales rise.

A new survey has revealed that 93% of consumers plan to shop on-line this Christmas, with almost three-quarters prepared to do at least half of their festive shopping on-line.

The report by eDigitalResearch and IMRG reveals the on-line shopping figures have risen by more than 25% compared to last year.

But e-tailers will need to remain competitive to gain a slice of this on-line consumer cheer because 88% of those surveyed said they would be price-comparing before purchasing.

Another piece of good news for on-line business is that despite the threat Royal Mail strike action, 60% of consumers are confident that they will receive their gifts on time.

Thanks to the vast choice, lots of bargains and the ability to avoid crowded shopping centres, on-line festive shopping is predicted to be big this Christmas. In fact, e-tailers reckon it will be even bigger than last year when UK consumers spent £4.6 billion on-line on presents, food and other festive products. Another piece if research also showed that 37% of people bought at least half of their festive shopping on-line in 2008.

But e-retail industry group IMRG is concerned that on-line consumers know how to make “safe” buys on the web. IMRG’s director of operations, David Smith, is reported as saying: “Consumers love shopping on-line for Christmas. We want to make sure they protect themselves, keep their personal details secure and be certain about the retailer.”

To help consumers, IMRG has set up an Internet Shopping is Safe (ISIS) programme.
E-retailers that sign up to the scheme commit to trading responsibly and have their website and services regularly checked by IMRG. ISIS-accredited retailers now account for around two-thirds of all UK on-line shopping.

You can find out more at www.isisaccreditation.imrg.org, as well as shopping site, Kelkoo.co.uk.