25% of Online Shoppers to Spend More this Christmas

Oct. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- Online shopping levels look likely to increase this Christmas, research from ecommerce data quality experts at Postcode Anywhere shows.

The study, which polled a thousand UK consumers, showed that while 25% of consumers plan to buy more Christmas presents online this year than last, only 5% will reduce their online spend.

Of those polled, 6% have never previously done their Christmas shopping online and plan to start this festive season, while 15% said they had no plans to buy Christmas presents on the internet at all.

Postcode Anywhere’s sales and marketing director Phil Rothwell said: “With 5% set to reduce spend and 25% to spend more, all things being equal, retailers could well be looking at a rise of around 20% in online sales this Christmas, a similar increase to last year. This is a fairly significant finding, but possibly not a surprising one given the circumstances.

“With two months to go until Christmas day, now is the time for ecommerce companies to ensure they’ve taken all the steps they can before the inevitable rush. Facing the worst economy in recent memory, the ecommerce industry needs to capitalise on what promises to be the best Christmas ever for internet shopping. Consumers want bargains. They want to kick out and relax more than ever and they want to do it at the best price. The home of the best price is the internet, plain and simple.

“What can online retailers do? There are two sides to this particular Christmas story. Firstly, retailers will want to ensure they can meet demand over the Christmas period. So stock levels need to be high. The website needs to be eminently usable, because festive shoppers are fickle! Vendors also need to provide accurate delivery information to reassure buyers they’ll get their goods in time to wrap them and give them.

“The other side is repeat business. The seasonal splurge is a great chance to introduce your brand to consumers at a time when fantastic service has the potential to forge a lasting relationship. Get too bogged down by a rush of orders and sacrifice on service, and you might manage to get away with making a nice extra profit, but you won’t be managing any long-term relationships.”

Postcode Anywhere’s managing director Guy Mucklow said: “Since our primary area of expertise is in address data, we’d urge online businesses to ensure poor contact data quality does not impact on their performance this festive season. In our view the importance of accurate contact data in ecommerce cannot be understated.

“Higher order volumes put existing processes under strain. If your database is not clean, and if you’re not offering address auto-completion, or at least using some method of validating addresses, you’re on the back foot before you even begin.

“What’s the worst-case scenario? Get the address even slightly wrong and you’ll end up with a late or missed delivery, a spoilt Christmas and a customer that is not only never coming back, but will only have bad things to say about your brand.”

For more information about Postcode Anywhere’s range of services for ecommerce, visit the website at www.postcodeanywhere.com.

ENDS

Media contact for Postcode Anywhere
Jim Williams – PR Manager
jim@postcodeanywhere.com
+44 (0) 1905 888 562
Press centre at: www.postcodeanywhere.com/press







Notes for editors

About Postcode Anywhere
Postcode Anywhere supplies software and services which improve the day-to-day operations of over 8,000 organisations worldwide. Best known as a provider of address auto-fill and verification software, the company offers a range of data-driven services, including route planning, customer profiling and bank account validation. It is now the fastest-growing reseller of Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF®) and the market leader for online address auto-fill. A multi-award-winning organisation, it has also appeared in Deloitte’s European fast-growth technology company list for three years running. For more information about Postcode Anywhere, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Recent Awards and Recognition for Postcode Anywhere
•   Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA 2008/9, 2009/10 & 2010/11
•   Red Herring Top 100 Europe - 2010
•   Best Small IT Supplier of the Year - UK IT Industry Awards (finalist) – 2009
•   Dell Small Business Excellence Award (UK finalist) – 2009
•   Small-Medium Sized Business of the Year (regional finalist) - National Business Awards 2009
•   Orange Best Use of Technology (Midlands) - 2008 National Business Awards
•   Growth Business of the Year - Chamber Awards 2008
•   Small Business of the Year - Chamber Awards 2008
•   Customer Service Team of the Year (finalist) - National Customer Services Awards 2008

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Postcode Anywhere is a UK-based company best known for its market-leading “what’s your postcode” technology. Its services include route optimisation, international addressing, data cleansing, business information services and lifestyle profiling.