ClarityWEB Article
The busiest day for online sales - 29th November
Mega Monday is here. Today is expected to be the busiest sales day online of 2010. Visa Europe have labelled today as Mega Monday with hundreds of thousands of online shoppers anticipated to make purchases worth over £265 million – a cool 3.8 million transactions.
Visa have predicted that UK online shoppers will spend over £3,000 per second, in a staggering 2,600 transactions worth up to £184,000 every minute of today. eCommerce transactions in 2010 are already up by 5.5% and show no signs of slowing.
Visa’s predictions are acknowledged as accurate with their research based on previous Christmas spending trends and current spending data (of which more than a £1 in every £4 spent in the UK, is on a Visa card).
The reason is that, for the last two years, the Monday closest to December has been the pay day for many retail consumers.
Online retailer Play.com believe that the Mega Monday craze will fade by December 6th. They go on to further predict that 200 orders will be placed per minute during the day. However, the highest volume of orders will be placed at 9.30pm tonight - peak time for online shopping.
Furthermore, there is more competition for retailers this year with the increase of group buying. Websites that promote this type of service can offer 50% - 60% discount on gifts on occasion.
Another attraction for this years online shopper is this increasing number of discount codes available from sites such as discountvouchers.co.uk and vouchercodes.co.uk. These sites often offer discounted deals from reputable retailers such as Marks and Spencers, Sainsburys and Tescos.
If you want to know what it is people are buying then John Lewis and Play.com offer a few clues.
John Lewis reports that Cath Kidston robes, spotted teapots, Apple iPods, Reindeer children pyjamas and men’s accessories have been flying off the shelves (flying Reindeer, whatever next!). Play.com has revealed that Take Thats new album, the Toy Story 3 DVD and Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii are their Top 3 Christmas sellers.
Spread the Word
Spend now, pay later?
With Christmas encouraging high spending trends, Visa have also issued the customary 'be careful what you spend' message.
Ultimately, those using credit cards still have the money to pay back and those dates tend to come quicker than many want.
Visa has urged caution but you can be assured we'll still be reading hundreds of debt stories in the New Year.
Lastly, Visa revealed a somewhat disturbing habit that many shoppers still have - with 3 out of 5 people still making themselves an easy fraud target by sharing PIN numbers and card details!
First Time Online?
Can you remember the first time you used the internet?
