A survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that sell online, conducted by eCommerce specialist Actinic, has shown that respondents reported an average 51% increase in order volume for November and December, when compared with 2008.
The results also showed that revenue was up 42% for the same period - a healthy figure, though lower than the 28% increase for the previous year. Given the recession, the dip may well be due to customers shopping around for the best bargains.
However, the recent results may be skewed by the fact that many high-value items were bought in order to beat this month's VAT hike from 15% to 17.5%.
That said, the research also found that Christmas shoppers were leaving their purchases till later. In 2008, the busiest week for online shopping was the last week in November. In 2009 it was the first two weeks in December.
Actinic's managing director Nick Kington summed up by saying that "This is another impressive performance by online sellers in the SME market with many... weathering the economic climate and reporting healthy increases in both order volumes and revenue."
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