Online sales surge boost for Visualsoft e-site work

Dec 18 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

Mega Monday for online sales 

MONDAY of last week was the biggest online shopping day this year, with sales up 14% on the comparable day last year to £320m, according to internet retail industry group IMRG.

The second Monday in December has been dubbed "Mega Monday" by the online retail industry because it has traditionally marked the high point of Christmas shopping on the Internet.

But IMRG said that with delivery times improving, there was still time for a stronger performance.

"We may even see next Monday being bigger still, which would be the first time ever that the third Monday in December marked the year's peak," it said.

The rise in sales beat the previous Monday's performance by 20 million pounds and was accompanied by an 18 percent rise in sales volumes.

"Online sales are holding up well, considering the economic conditions," IMRG said.

However, it added that Monday was only the third-biggest day this year in terms of traffic to retail websites, suggesting shoppers are researching thoroughly, both in stores and online, before committing to a purchase.