The start of the Christmas shopping season is about to take off online, according to new research.
MetaPack’s eCommerce 100 Tracker, which analyses the despatch records of cross-section of 100 MetaPack customers, found that last year the online shopping peak started in September, following a small drop in August.
Between September and October online deliveries rose by 28%, while between October and November they rose by a further 42%. November and December saw deliveries rise still further, by 29%. In total, says MetaPack, between September and December, deliveries rose by 133%.
Patrick Wall, chief executive of MetaPack believes that this year, strong sales up to Christmas will stay high into the New Year, boosted by the January 4 introduction of the VAT increase.
That, he expects, “will see people going online from around midday on Christmas Day to avoid paying more tax.”
