Broadband peak for early sales on Christmas Day?

Boxing Day is traditionally one of the biggest days in the online retailing calendar as shoppers with some credit left on plastic look for a bargain in the sales.

However, according to research commissioned by analytics company Webtrends, Christmas Day itself could soon be rivalling the traditional peak shopping day.

Its figures show that half of those with broadband access on Christmas Day will be browsing the web and a quarter will be shopping online on Christmas Day. Also, a staggering 60% will be checking email and 40% will be logging on to social media sites.

Christmas Sales on Christmas Day?

Conrad Bennett, Director of Technical Services at Webtrends, believes this means Christmas Day is fast becoming a rival to Boxing Day.

“Traditionally any retailer or ISP would expect a huge surge in traffic on Boxing Day because it’s when the sales start,” he says.

“However, there’s no reason why sales shouldn’t start online at Christmas Day, there’s no need for them to follow the bricks and mortar tradition. What was really interesting about our research is the sheer number of people who are online and picking up messages as well as shopping on Christmas Day.

“It means people are there to be marketed to. You’ve obviously got to be careful and not seem intrusive but if you wish people a Merry Christmas on the big day, I can’t see people getting upset, and if you give them a special offer with the email or social media post, then all the better.”

It will be interesting to see how many retailers start Boxing Day sales a day early to take advantage of this new recent interest. Marks & Spencer has already announced just such a move and so it is likely rivals will follow this year. If they do not, it is almost certain many more will next year and retailers and ISPs receive a peak of traffic on both Christmas Day as well as Boxing Day.

Sneaky Christmas

The research also picked up some interesting traits of online shoppers. In particular, a quarter of us admit to using the computer to look for clues for what their partner has bought them. Men are the worst offenders, the research found and psychologist Amelia Wise, founder of Bloom Psychology, believes the reason is they are unsure how much to spend on a partner or what would be an appropriate gift. By conducting such underhand ‘research’ a shopper can get an idea of the type of present they are receiving and how much they are likely to have had spent on them.

Interestingly, if it all goes wrong, the research found that broadband users have no shame in going online as early as Christmas Day to put unwanted gifts on eBay. In fact, one in six people expect to be going online straight away to sell on unwanted presents.

Tags: Boxing Day, Christmas, Christmas Day, Conrad Bennett, online shopping, sales, Webtrends